The Sun Goes Down Series
by Peregrine
Summary: A strange encounter with an artist who seems to more than he should spells danger for Billy and the team
1. Questing Wolf

**__**

Disclaimer: Saban owes the Power Rangers, I don't. I wish I did but I don't. So this fic is not done for any gain on my part. For those of you who are at all interested this starts sometime after Jason becomes the Gold Ranger and before Billy leaves.This is the First Fic in the Sun goes Down Series.. hope you like it!

### Questing Wolf  


by Peregrine 

"Go on Billy... It'd be good for you to get out!" Adam pleaded. 

Dressed in his now usual shades of green the Green Zeo Ranger stood in the Power Chamber watching his friend work diligently on some complex task. 

He had to admit he was getting worried about Billy. Physically he seemed fine but Adam was sure there was something wrong. He couldn't exactly put his finger on the problem but he knew it was there. The others seemed not to notice but ever since Jason had got the Gold Powers his friend had become quieter and quieter... which hardly seemed possible. Fixing a pleasant grin on his face Adam tried again. 

"Just the two of us yeah?" He tried to make the prospect sound enticing. 

He hated seeing Billy like this. If there was something that he could not stand was feeling helpless while someone was in trouble. Billy sighed and looked up from his adjusting. Adam had that familiar set to his jaw that he got when he was going to be stubborn. Billy often thought wryly to himself that if Adam spirit animal hadn't been a Frog then maybe it should have been a Mule. 

"You're not going to give up on this are you Adam?" he said wearily recognizing defeat. Adam flashed one of his dazzling grins, "Hey you are smart aren't you? he quipped lightly.

Billy smiled a little in response and appearing to reach a decision put down the complicated tool that he had been using. "Okay. okay, we'll go to this... Student Exhibition of yours!" he agreed and turned to speak to Alpha quickly.

"I'll adjust the dimorphic resonator later Alpha... could you check the quantum flow modulation interface on Pyramidas? The analysis came back with reduced efficiency...."

"Yes Billy," the little droid replied, and hustled off busily.

Adam in turn blinked, slightly stunned by the unexpected re-emergence of Billy's famous techno-babble. He hadn't heard it for quite a while. Come to think of it when had been the last time he had heard him say much of anything?.

"Adam?" the sandy haired genius called with a touch of impatience. "You were the one who wanted to go to this thing?"

Billy was poised to teleport, hand set on his communicator. The green ranger nodded with over-acted enthusiasm. "Yes, yes of course! Let's go." 

* * *

This had been a good idea, Adam congratulated himself quietly. Outside the Power Chamber Billy had loosened up a bit--even laughed a couple of times whilst they had been wandering around looking at the various exhibits. Mind you, some of them deserved the laughs, and Billy had found a few of the science projects particularly amusing and a few others genuinely interesting. Adam had no doubt that a few new inventions and devices might be forthcoming from his genius friend's observations on this trip. However, Adam had secretly hoped that Billy might decide he wanted to talk about whatever was bothering him and so far Billy's implacable exterior has shown no signs of cracking. Adam wasn't used to being the "fun" one of the group, and having to draw someone out of themselves but today at least he tried his best. _I should have asked Rocky for some pointers before I came,_ he thought, a little flustered. Something caught his eye and he stopped.

"Hey, the Art Exhibits" he pointed out, something he would genuinely like to see. 

Billy looked at him indulgently, feeling a glimmer of a smile on his lips. He knew that Adam was into Art though it was not something he advertised. So many times people looked at the martial arts skill and thought that was it. _Well it wouldn't harm..._ Billy thought to himself. Adam at least had been making and effort, which he appreciated. 

"You want to take a look?"

"Yeah! Well only if you want to....?" Adam amended hastily, remembering he had arranged this day for Billy not for him.

"Sure, sure," Billy agreed amiably, gesturing for Adam to lead the way. 

They wandered around the hall, "appreciating" the Art, as Adam thought to himself. He noticed a small sign leading into the last hall and read it aloud to himself, "The Valencia Room has been given over to the works of this years prize Winner, Skye Brannon's _Quest Against Darkness_ series, a selection of brilliantly conceived and executed images with an Otherworldly feel blended with an eerie sense of reality."

"Hmm last stop before lunch yeah?" Adam said not wanting to bore his friend too much, but eager to see the exhibit. 

Billy nodded in reply. Actually he was enjoying himself, he did like Art and music, only he was usually so preoccupied by science that he just didn't pay as much attention to those subjects as he would have liked. Say what you like but it was a rare occasion when Art had beaten one of the monsters any of these space villains had thrown at him. Science on the other hand seemed to get them everytime. This had been a refreshing change. They both walked into the Gallery and immediately stopped in their tracks. Adam took a sharp breath in shock, and heard Billy do the same beside him. The huge picture ahead of them, almost photographic in it's detail and rendering, depicted hauntingly strange temple ruins, very familiar temple ruins to them! Billy and Adam exchanged astonished looks.

"The Temple of the Ninjetti...." Billy whispered in surprise, his heart racing with shock of recognition. 

The next picture was one of a compelling snowy owl which somehow suggested a powerful woman.

"Dulcea... " Adam murmured under his breath, remembering the brief kiss anew.

Billy gazed around the walls where the series continued: the Phaedos Jungle, the Dinosaur boneyard with the menace unmistakable, the Monolith of the Great Power. And finally... the moment of the Great Power released with six anonymous figures transfigured, and somehow all the glory, the power, the danger conveyed in the painting, all that he felt all that he _remembered_ deep in his soul despite the time line alteration. It was all there. "This artist is... phenomenal." breathed Billy, struggling to express the wonder he felt.

"Thanks," a strangers' voice said behind them.

They both jumped, startled. They turned to see a young male student maybe a little older than them, with long white hair tied back giving them a warm smile. Adam tried to remember the name on the board out the front, guessing it must be the artist.

"Skye Brannon?" he asked.

"Just Skye please."The artist shook Adams hand with a slightly quizzical expression on his face, glancing from one to the other almost as if he were trying to remember where he had seen them before. 

Adam felt a mild sense of deja vu himself, though he knew he'd never met him before. He would have remembered. Hair like that, and the way he favoured his left leg, too many noticeable features to forget!

"I am Adam Park, this is Billy Cranston," Adam introduced them both.

He looked at Billy, wondering if he had the same sort of feeling. The way that Billy was staring, he guessed that he did. Staring from the person who could give him lessons in shyness!

"We are really impressed with your work" Billy said and then added "Where did you get your inspiration?"

"It's a long story," the artist replied evasively.

Billy frowned slightly, unwilling to let it go at that. This was a mystery, and lord knows he loved a mystery!

"I would really like to hear about it.... Adam and I are just about to go to lunch, would you like to join us?"

Skye Brannon hesitated slightly and then nodded.

"Okay... sure."

* * *

It was halfway through a pleasant, if unproductive, lunch of the exhibition's version of junk food that Adam's communicator bleeped its characteristic tune. The Green Ranger got up quickly.

"Sorry, my pager...." he exclaimed hurriedly. "Back in a minute!" And he ran off. 

"That probably means we will have to leave," Billy said ruefully. "But I would still really like to know more about your pictures... which you haven't really told us about yet...." He ended on a wistful note. 

Skye nodded slowly and appeared to come to a decision. He swiftly scribbled something on a scrap of paper and handed it to Billy.

"I have a lot more of this series back at my studio flat... if you want to swing by and take a look at them... this is my address and number." 

Again there eyes met briefly, blue to blue and Billy felt a strange familiarity pass between them, that ignored the fact that they had met only an hour before. Had he seen him before? He had a really good memory, surely he would have remembered?

"Right, that would be great," Billy said absently, feeling like it was one of those weird time-line episodes on a sci-fi show. Either that or a severe episode of deja vu. Adam reappeared at the table suddenly.

"Sorry about this Skye, but we've got to go!" he apologized, giving Billy a meaningful look.

__

Uh-huh, Billy thought, _another monster attack._ You could set your watch by them at the moment.

"No problem," said Skye easily, waving casually. "It was nice to meet you both, maybe see you around!"

"Thanks again!" Billy said as they hurried away. 

* * *

__

Another crisis over, another monster defeated... and a particularly stupid one at that! Billy thought derisively. Sometimes he wondered how Mondo had been able to make himself King of any type of Empire, from the total lack of imagination involved in his schemes. _But I am not going to ask him to make it any more difficult,_ he thought wryly. That aside, and him left alone in the Power Chamber again, his mind returned to the mystery posed by the artist Skye and his pictures. How had he "seen" Phaedos? _Why_ had he seen Phaedos? What did it mean? The questions plagued him through his normal work until, despite his natural reticence, a few days later he resolved to do something about it... quietly. If the guy turned out to be a sick weirdo then he could 'port out and nobody would be any the wiser. The way his luck was going he'd probably make a huge fool of himself, but he wouldn't tell anyone. No embarrassment, no nothing.

* * *

Billy found the apartment fairly easily in downtown Angel Grove. He stood outside the door, about to knock on the door when he stopped. What did he think he was doing!? The chances of this guy being for real were practically nil! This was ridiculous. He turned to leave when the door suddenly opened.

"Oh!" Skye jumped startled. 

"Er.... Hello," Billy said nervously, just stopping himself from saying 'salutations'. He really had to concentrate to speak "properly" when he was nervous. 

"I... er... thought it would be most edifying if I took up your most generous offer," he said swiftly.

Skye grinned. "I'm glad you have, come in! I was just getting some milk for a cup of coffee." 

Billy cautiously followed him into the studio apartment.... Every wall and surface was littered with pictures, drying canvases and sketches. He had to dodge around beakers of water, brushes, inks and half filled palettes. He had no idea how the artist actually managed to live in this place.

"Have a look around... sorry it's a bit of tip," Skye gestured and walked into the kitchenette limping noticeably. "I'll make a drink."

Self-consciously, Billy flicked through some finished canvases. There were more views of Phaedos... some which he didn't recognize... some more normal topics and then a strangely compelling picture, obviously more recent. A frog mid-leap inside a glowing green crystal and in a shadowy background of stars he could just pick out the unmistakable features of Adam! He was stunned into silence. Skye returned with the coffee and noticed what he was looking at. 

"Ah you found it then... yes, don't ask me why but the image plagued me for days after I met Adam... until I could get it painted," he explained. He coughed, a little embarrassed. "I'm not sure what it means... though the Frog is often a symbol of Transformation. It seems to suit him though" 

"Oh it does." Billy agreed fervently... _too well!_ He found himself wondering if Skye had done a picture of him... _but then why would he?_ he questioned sourly. Adam he could understand, he could be a model after all. As if divining his thoughts Skye smiled and picked up another picture,

"This one I'd like your thoughts on...." he turned it around to show him a beautifully painted picture of a Wolf.... A Wolf turning towards a brilliant star and in the same shadowy style, a portrait of himself behind it. Billy felt an upsurge of emotion that he wouldn't have believed possible. 

"I call it Questing Wolf... Do you like it?" Skye asked tentatively. 

"Yes indeed... you did this after meeting us once? That's incredible!" Billy said to cover his confusion. What was going on here? He remembered Phaedos, but it wasn't easy, technically it hasn't happened and he knew he remembered it better than the others, the Zeo Rangers. And here was a total stranger, seeing into that part of him which he could barely unlock himself!

"Well it's yours," Skye said offering him the picture.

Billy was pleased and then wary, worried there was more to this gift than generosity. Even so he felt compelled to reach out and take the picture.

"There's one condition--that I can turn it into a major piece." Skye finished. Billy nodded relieved and a trifle non-plussed. But this was not what he came here to find out. He put down his mug of coffee.

"You never did answer my question the other day," he said carefully. "Where do you get your inspiration?!" _of Phaedos, of us..._ he added to himself. 

Skye looked uncomfortable. "Since I had an....accident a couple of years back...."

Billy couldn't help but glance down at the left leg which he had noticed Skye favoring, The artist nodded, noting his attention.

"Yes my leg is somewhat wrecked, but I get by... anyway, since then I have had this kind of "altered perception"... well that's how the doctors described it." His voice faltered and he looked oddly apprehensive now that he had told Billy. The ex-ranger got the distinct impression that the artist was waiting for a barrage of ridicule over this statement.

"Extra-sensory perception?" Billy asked seriously. It would explain some of this uncanny coincidence. The artist looked relieved.

"Sort of... nothing as defined though... sometimes random, sometimes not, intense and vague." Skye shrugged, and leveled a speculative gaze at Billy. "... but when I first used to say that I believed in my pictures, that they were real to me... I got some very funny looks you know? I can't believe you are taking this seriously!" Skye finally blurted out.

Billy grinned, thinking that he would be a fine one to say that something was impossible, spending most of his time with a sentient robot and a giant head in a tube!

"I'm an open-minded scientist and if it hasn't been disproved then I am open to the possibility," he said to cover his pause.

"And you invent too, yes? " Skye said shrewdly. 

Billy nodded. "Well that's a plus in the ESP evidence column," he said somewhat evasively, wary of the category "geek, nerd" that usually flashed up behind people's eye's at this point.

"So what sort of things do you invent?" Skye asked interested, sitting back, and before he knew it Billy was chatting away to the artist more easily then he ever had to anyone, save Adam or (his heart gave him a sharp pang).... Trini. 

* * *

Billy tidied up his lab in his garage quickly and haphazardly. Skye was coming over in a moment, first time anyone had been round to his house in a _long_ time. It was astonishing how swiftly they had become friends, odd in some ways, especially as he was aware that his past record of making friends had been a painful experience, not this easy instantaneous friendship. Okay, anything easy made him suspicious, there was no denying it. That was the way life had treated him.

But, learning from the past, he had checked Skye out... he had told Zordon about the pictures of Phaedos. The dossier they had compiled had been comparatively brief. Skye Brannon, 5ft 10", blue eyes, prematurely whitened hair (Billy had been surprised to find out that it wasn't bleached white) had started at the Angel Grove college of Art and Design two years ago, and since that time had made minor appearances in the local papers for his artistic endeavors, awards and such like. He had a security number, records, so he was essentially a real person. He was in fact 19, though he looked older, probably the hair. All in all, everything appeared fine. They had both checked it wasn't a trap, that they weren't being fooled. But he wasn't a fake... and oddly Zordon had appeared more discomfited by that fact than by anything else. It made him wonder if in some strange way Zordon wanted Skye to be an phony, if that would somehow be preferable to him being the real thing. In the end though Zordon had conceded it might be a good idea for them to get to know each other, but it had be a grudging endorsal.

__

In some ways this last week had been pretty good for me, Billy thought to himself. It was nice to have company again. Adam tried, but between his schoolwork and the constant Power Ranger crisis', and Billy's work in the Power Chamber, he had been lucky to see any of them outside of a battle... which wasn't the best time to be socializing in the midst of frantic decisions and swift action. He hardly saw them, not any more. He shook his head, he was getting melancholy again... and that was not getting his lab clean!

A knock on the door.

"Hiya Billy!" a familiar voice shouted. "I brought donuts!"

"Come on in Skye," he shouted back and grinning in the great tradition of hurried cleaning, swept a load of papers into a convenient cupboard. 

* * *

"Well, well... " King Mondo mused. "Looks like the "brain" has found himself a new friend." He sat down heavily upon his throne, creaking slightly. Really, this moon base could do with some serious upgrading, wouldn't do for young Sprocket to get Pit-Rust, he pondered and then collected his thoughts.

"Maybe we can exploit this.... Klank!" he bellowed. 

"Yer Majesty?" Klank replied pulling himself to full attention.

"See if there is anything that we might use against this new friend of the ex-ranger," King Mondo ordered. Klank sighed as a tedium loop ran through programming in expectation of the result of this request. Another futile kidnapping, another monster destroyed. Though it was written into his hardware that machine's are, of course, inherently superior to organics, even organics could show a degree of intelligence. It was a fact that King Mondo's algorithms just were not as flexible as they were in the past, and it took a while for an idea to be processed. Nevertheless he was the King so, as ordered, he ran a swift comprehensive analysis on the new human subject and at the sight of one of the readings his circuits nearly overloaded! 

"My King!" he exclaimed incredulous. He double checked his figures. They remained the same.

"This one has the potential to try for the Star Crystal!" he announced.

"What?! But you said that you scanned the whole planet for suitable candidates when we first arrived here!" Mondo bellowed extravagantly.. 

"It must have developed recently, my lord," Klank said smoothly, cursing silently. He hadn't run a full scan at all... after all they were only _humans,_ who would have thought one of them might show signs of psi talent!? Aquitians, Edenoins, Eltarians, yes, but _humans?_ It defied all logic. But the scan still confirmed his analysis.

"Hmm well that changes this human from a distraction to a prize," Mondo said, his metal eyes glowing malevolently. Klank waited respectfully for instruction.

"Send some cogs down to get them... or better yet push them through a portal to Sionas. I'm willing to expend the vast amount of energy required if we have a possibility of controlling the Star Crystal. Without any powers, it is entirely possible that the ex-ranger will be destroyed there, as will the other one if he proves not to be capable of mastering the Star Crystal... either way, I win!" Mondo laughed. "And if he survives, then we'll see about using that delicious new cyberising ray on him and make him ours--he'll be in no shape to fend off an attack if he makes it back.... Oh what a brilliant plan!" the rotund monarch gloated. Klank groaned and set about making the "brilliant plan" actually happen.

* * *

Billy was just seeing Skye off, out down his drive when with an abrupt flash they were surrounded by metallic droids. 

"Cogs!" Billy yelled in warning automatically and then abruptly realized that Skye would not have a clue what he was talking about let alone what to do. And without any powers _(damn it!)_ to call on there was a limit to how effective he could be! Nevertheless, he hadn't been a ranger for all that time without become pretty good at fighting, even if he hadn't been the greatest warrior of the group... but every hit he took was like been struck with an iron bar.

"Zordon...." he gasped into his communicator, ducking away from the cogs. "Cog attack!"

__

Woah! Something very strange was going on, very strange. This was not a usual attack. Was this the "trap"?--had he been wrong about Skye after all? He looked for the artist... it seemed not. Skye was buried under a mass of Cogs kicking and yelling... quite loudly and with great vigour!

"Come on guys... Where are you?" he yelled to the air desperately trying to fight his way over to Skye. More cogs appeared, which Billy noted as unusual and he soon discovered why as a peculiar glimmering portal appeared in the air. Finally, through sheer weight of numbers Billy was overwhelmed and was grabbed simultaneously by four cogs, lifted by his arms and legs and his last sight as he was thrown bodily through the portal was of the multicolored streaks of light that signaled the arrival of the Zeo Rangers... too late! He heard Adam shout out to him as he tumbled helplessly away into spiraling darkness.

* * *

"Billy!" Adam yelled in horror as the cogs threw his friend kicking and fighting through a swirling hole in space... and another person too. A flash of white hair identified who he was, it had to be that artist from the exhibition! The Zeo Rangers attacked the horde of cogs with grim determined vigour and decimated them--but by the time they had finished, the portal had vanished completely. They all looked at each other for a long silent moment, until Tommy spoke tersely.

"Back to the Power Chamber!" and the others, silent and grim, nodded.

* * *

Back in the Power Chamber, Tommy ripped off his helmet and stood before their mentor, his expression serious. "Zordon... we were too late! Billy and someone else were thrown through a strange portal," he explained.

"That was Skye Brannon, I'm sure of it." Adam spoke up, his voice troubled.

"You are correct Adam," Zordon confirmed. "I watched the attack on the viewing globe... observe." 

The attack replayed, unfolding from the point when Billy had called for help. Tanya narrowed her eyes speculatively. "Is it my imagination or are they going after... Skye?" she asked. 

"Is this a traditional friend seized as bait gambit?" Rocky suddenly remarked seeing the same thing. 

"I do not know Rangers," Zordon admitted "We will have to locate them first."

There was an uncomfortable pause and silence as they all looked at one another. Kat smiled a little wanly brushing back her blonde hair uncomfortably. "This would be where Billy would say something like I'm already on it... or something" she said quietly. 

"Well, I'll help with the scan Alpha!" Adam said firmly. 

"And I will too," Rocky added much to everyone's surprise. Alpha trotted up to the two volunteers.

"This way Rangers," he said in a strangely subdued voice, leading them to the consoles. 

* * *

Billy pushed himself up, feeling cold and gritty sand underneath his hands. First thing he did was look at his communicator, which appeared to be totally dead. Then he looked around at the alien surroundings appraisingly. 

"We're not in Kansas any more, Toto! " he muttered aloud as he glanced up at a distinctly grape purple sky.

"Bark, woof, bark!" a dry comment answered him from a glittering sand dune to his left.

"Skye? Billy called.

"The one and only." The white-haired artist replied pushing himself up, shaking sand out of his hair and off his clothes. He absently twisted his hair back into a pony tail. They both got up slowly, Billy wincing as the results of taking on too many cogs without the benefits of power began making their presence felt.

"Where are we?" Skye asked simply, staring at the strange alien landscape. 

Crystal spires sprouted out of the glittering sand like massive silicon flowers, twisting and glowing with varicolored light. Two white suns caused them to cast an oddly disturbing double shadow that in some ways was more disturbing that the most obvious alien things. The light was brittle and sharp and the air had a tang of ozone, tart and electric. There could be no doubt that this was not Earth, either that or a really good sci-fi movie set.

"To be honest, I have no idea," Billy replied simply. He looked at the sky... there were strange cloud formations building formidable walls of dense black clouds, that looked stormy. His scientific instincts were intrigued as it looked like this place saw little sign of rain. He blinked as there were bright flashes of distant lightning and thunder rumbled along the horizon.

"Well what do we do?" Skye asked.

"Maybe look for some shelter first." Billy replied carefully looking at the clouds again... "and then maybe see if we can find a way back home." 

* * *

"I find it most perturbing that there is no animal or plant life here," Billy commented as they trudged over the crystal studded desert. He thought that the white-haired artist was taking this particularly well. He at least in his past experiences as a ranger had been on alien worlds... maybe the fact that Skye had had visions of other worlds was cushioning the bizarreness of the situation. There was no denying it, he was starting to feel a bit lightheaded and he clumsily stumbled slightly and gasped as his side burned. Tomorrow he would be probably unable to move, it had been like that after some of the really tough battles in the early days. 

"You okay?" Skye asked concerned. He didn't like the pale drawn look that had appeared around his friends eyes.

"Fine, Fine," Billy lied trying to look confident by walking onwards.

Skye paused near a glowing rainbow filled crystal. He was shaking his head slightly if fighting some sort of conclusion he was drawing about companion.

"Billy...." Skye asked slowly and seriously "Who are you.... I mean really?"

Billy blinked, taken by surprise. "Wha... what are you talking about?" he evaded lamely.

"You _know_ what I mean... " the artist's steel blue eyes were piercing, and they seemed to be fixing on some point inside his head!

"I'm plain old Billy" he protested, worried now.

Skye shook his head slowly and irrevocably. "If there is one thing you are not it is plain old Billy. Who do you think you are talking to?" rebuked Skye calmly.

Billy looked at him, a dark suspicion dawning "Mr. enhanced perception right?" he said wearily.

Skye nodded,"It's stronger here for some reason... much stronger, but even before... when I first saw you and Adam, you _glowed._ You stood out." 

"How?" Billy asked warily.

"You glow blue, Adam a peculiar mixture of black and green... if you can be said to glow black," revealed Skye as if glad to get a weight off his chest.

As Billy was struggling to think up a plausible excuse, a bolt of lightening struck a crystal nearby with an acrid crack, and Skye staggered backwards dropping to one knee. Instinctively Billy reached out to pull him up to his feet and as he grasped his hands felt a shock pass between them. Skye's blue eyes widened in enlightenment.

"A Power Ranger! You are a Blue Power Ranger!" he stated with iron certainty.

Billy nearly bit his tongue in shock trying not to react. How could he know? It had to be a guess... didn't it?

"I don't know what you mean," he said weakly, mentally retreating even now at the reminder of what he had lost, what he had given up.

"No... no even now... I see," Skye said distinctly. "Clearer than ever, clearer than..." he stumbled dizzy again, but continued, a trifle disjointed but unstoppable. "You and your friends... at the very start...."

Billy listened in horrified astonishment as he reeled off the names of them all... from that first beginning to the present day. The artist finally lapsed into silence, but his eyes glittered still with an otherworldly glimmer.

Billy sighed, smoothing his ruffled blonde hair absently. There was no use in denying it, it would be pointless. He hadn't met any of the others yet he knew them all. More than likely he would be able to draw them too, perfect images of them and their powers. His blue eyes clouded at that thought.

"You are correct except for one crucial detail... I'm not a blue ranger... ex-ranger yes, I no longer have the Power." he said bitterly. 

"You _do_ have the Power," Skye said firmly "I see it!" 

Lightening struck another crystal and both Billy and Skye winced in pain. 

Billy mused, "There appears to be a correlation between our reaction, the lightening and the crystals... and maybe your heightened vision?" he nodded to himself speculatively, thoughts turning in his mind. Skye remained silent staring at him, watching him think. "Psi enhancer crystals maybe?" Billy said aloud.

He reached out his hand and lightly touched a nearby shimmering crystal. Abruptly his mind was filled with the glowing eyes of a wolf. _PREPARE!_ thundered a voice in his mind. He stumbled backwards his mind screaming, but what he actually said was, "Ow! Theory proven," before he managed to get back his equilibrium. 

Skye looked around at their immediate environment. The clusters appeared to crackle with storm energy. Some reached like enormous silicon trees with delicate filigree crystal leaves shimmering to the dark masses building in the sky. It was like a vast frosted wood, beautiful but cold and deadly.

"Is it just my imagination or there more crystal spires here?" he asked.

"You appear to be correct," Billy replied also noting the change in crystal density. "Maybe we shouldn't go any further."

They sat down, and Billy considered things. "One thing I would say...." he said slowly. "The reason why I was so interested in your pictures... was because they are real... they are of a place called Phaedos, another planet. I've been there."

Skye nodded, as if this wasn't really a surprise to him. "They felt real," he said simply.

"It happened to the Rangers in an altered timeline... I was one of the six from your picture," Billy finished.

"The Wolf right? and Adam is a Frog?" Skye asked intently. 

Billy grinned, remembering. "Much to his disappointment."

Skye looked concerned. "Then if that part of what I saw was real... then maybe the rest of it was real too...." His face paled and he shuddered, his eyes shadow grey and unreadable.

Before Billy could ask what he meant, a retina searing lightening bolt earthed itself into a Crystal spire a few metres away. A massive screaming energy monster rose up behind them roaring with a sound that scraped their nerves like nails down a blackboard.

They scrambled to their feet with remarkable speed despite their aches and pains.

"You might have to wait for an explanation on that one...." Skye said urgently. "Run!" 

* * *

Adam paced, irritated, backwards and forwards in the Power Chamber. "Have you located them yet Alpha?" he asked impatiently. This was taking _too_ long!

"Rocky is just finishing the computer analysis of the dimensional scan," Alpha replied. Rocky strode up clutching a sheet of results. 

"Here we go!" Rocky said, quite pleased with how quickly he had completed it. Alpha took the sheet and assessed the data in silence.

"Aye-yi-yie! Zordon, they are on Sionas!" Alpha exclaimed. 

"This is grave, rangers," Zordon said in that tone that he used to impart serious news. Adam and Rocky exchanged worried glances. "Sionas is a very dangerous place. It is a planet claimed by the Machine Empire, but they cannot set foot on its surface." 

Rocky brightened, "Well that is something," he said hopefully. Surely that was good news. Adam shook his head. 

"Why is it so dangerous? And why would they be sent there?" he asked flatly.

Zordon answered carefully. "Sionas possesses huge deposits of mind-crystals, that enhance thoughts and mind abilities. There is one particular very powerful meta-crystal which King Mondo has been trying to obtain for centuries, but so far no living creature has survived the planet because it gives form to their darkest thoughts, which eventually destroys them. The intense electro-magnetism also immediately scrambles any mechanical contrivance," Zordon explained.

So why Billy?" Adam asked and then hesitated. That didn't feel right. Mondo would have surely done this before if it were something to do with his genius friend. "Or is it Billy at all... possibly Skye?" he said suddenly.

Zordon was quiet for a moment. "It does appear that Skye Brannon has some natural highly developed psi-abilities, it maybe that Mondo thinks that he will be able to find the Star Crystal and use it," he said.

"This isn't like a Zeo crystal is it?" Adam asked hopefully. Maybe there was a chance that Billy could get some powers, that would help a lot! In fact, he had a feeling that a lot of problems would be solved if Billy regained the Power.

Zordon shook his head "This is not a Ranger Power Adam," he explained. "The Star Crystal can only be controlled by someone with high psi ability. It does not tap into the morphin grid, and there are no morphin abilities or zord connections involved." Zordon's voice was sombre.

Adam's rising hope was abruptly quashed.

"Can we teleport them out then?" Rocky asked urgently.

"The electromagnetic interference is too great to gain a lock," Alpha reported quietly. They looked at the arcing lightening leaping from spire to spire in the Viewing Globe and hope began to flicker and die.

"Then _what_ do we do!?" Adam asked emotionally but before he got an answer the sirens and alarms flashed and blared calling them to a monster attack in down town Angel Grove. 

* * *

__

Running through sand is the pits, Billy thought as he ran, _especially when your sides were killing you and a couple of large savage looking 6 metre high monsters are chasing you._ "We're being herded!" Billy gasped out as they paused briefly. The crystal's ahead were larger and in thicker clusters, glittering and beautiful... and no doubt deadly. Skye clutched at his bad leg, grimacing as it cramped. 

"I can tell," he replied, getting his breath. "but to where and what are those things behind us?" 

Billy had a sudden inspiration, and mentally cursed himself for being so blind. "Did you ever see that old film, _Forbidden Planet_?" he asked excitedly. "Where they were all destroyed by the fears from the scientists subconscious?" 

Skye looked at him, comprehension dawning. "You're saying that those things are our... fears?" The artist looked fearful, and screwed up his face as if he had bitten a wasp."Oh yeah that's a pleasant thought." 

"I'm afraid so.... It makes sense if these are all mind enhancing crystals, they would pick up our dominant thoughts and give them form through the lightening energy," Billy said. "And if that is the case, we are in a huge amount of trouble."

Skye frowned and then his expression brightened. "Hold on just a moment... let me try something."

"Make it quick....very quick!" Billy warned... looking nervously at the way they had come for sign of the monsters. 

There was a brief flash of rainbow light from the crystal around them and there was a glossy black Raven perched on the top of the crystal eyeing them. Billy stared at the apparition.

"Well it worked after all that...." Skye said opening his eyes. Seeing Billy's perturbed frown he explained swiftly. "I reasoned that if our fears became manifest, then maybe parts of our high minds could too... in many cultures, Raven in the keeper of the hidden knowledge." Billy was impressed and instinctively bowed his head to Raven before rapidly asking questions.

"Raven may I ask you questions?" he said cautiously.

"You may." The Raven's voice was oddly melodious.

"Raven, where are we being herded?"

"You are being directed towards the heart of this world, to the Star Crystal," Raven replied.

"What is that?" Billy asked curiously. 

"A meta-crystal--as diamond is to coal, so this is to these crystal spires, but infinitely more precious," Raven described solemnly. It flapped its gleaming obsidian black wings to command attention and continued. "It is for one of you... and it is the only way that you will ever leave this planet." 

"Is it dangerous?" Billy asked, his mind racing.

"All objects of power are dangerous, the one who takes it will have to master it." The edge in the Raven's tone made it obvious that this would not be an easy task. Billy nodded and asked one final desperate question.

"What else do we need to know?" 

"You need a guide." 

In a flurry of swirling shadow the Raven was gone. _A guide?_ Almost unbidden a shape, a familiar form leapt to the forefront of Billy's mind. A blue tinged Wolf shimmered into existence in front of them, shocking Billy speechless. 

"Greetings, my cub!" the Wolf said radiating pleasure and a warm friendly presence.... "I have but a very short time here... let us go." 

Billy reached out with a trembling hand to touch its head and with a mischievous expression in its glowing golden eyes the Wolf licked him sloppily. Billy spluttered... and then laughed. "You licked me!" 

"What did you expect?" replied the wolf as it started to lead them away. "It is the nature of wolves to play... remember that."

"This is _your_ wolf?" Skye asked smiling. Billy nodded in response, still overwhelmed. 

"Bet he's a riot at parties," the artist said in a dry voice as they set off again.

* * *

The Zeo Rangers had their hands full battling the latest effort of the Machine Empire to conquer the world... a grotesque parody of the Tin Man from a local production of the Wizard of Oz. This guy was after hearts... in a warped rewrite of the plot. He seemed to be able to put people into stasis so he could collect his prizes later. Also, Alpha had gravely informed them he had an immensely powerful Axe. Alpha had not been wrong; that Axe had been tossing them around Angel Grove Park rather successfully for the past half hour. Adam shook his head getting up from another blast, just in time to see Kat take a hit on the monsters backswing. He couldn't help but wondered what was happening to Billy and Skye. They could really use Billy now... with a device or some strategy. Jason covered Adam's recovery with a blast from the Gold Power staff, as Rocky leapt to Kat's aid.

"This is doing us no good," The Gold ranger said with effort. "This battle is going nowhere fast!" He finished kicking a stray cog out of the picture.

"The Rules stop us from escalating the conflict, you know that!" Tanya said as she anxiously checked on Adam. The Green Ranger was a little winded but appeared to be okay. She suddenly realized that most of the team had been momentarily been overwhelmed leaving Rocky and Tommy alone... with a sick premonition Tanya began to turn when she heard a familiar cry.

"Oh my God!" Kat yelled "Tommy!"

They turned to look as the Tin Man caught the Red Ranger in the side with his Axe. Tommy had obviously tried to take him on alone to cover their recovery as Rocky helped Kat. There was a massive explosion and Tommy was tossed through the air like a rag doll and landed surrounded in a sickly rusty glow. Rocky ran over to him and with surprising strength picked up their fallen leader.

"Tommy's hurt!" he shouted. the Monster laughed and swung at him as he jumped back the blade grazing his armour in a shower of vivid energy sparks.

Adam and Jason exchanged glances and took the fore. "Rocky, get him back to the Power Chamber," the Green Ranger shouted as the others formed up in fighting stance around them. Things were getting just worse and worse.

* * *

The Wolf had lead them swiftly to a crystal plateau, where they could see, sparkling like an elongated star the object of their search glittering in plain sight and apparently within easy reach. The wolf turned and looked at Billy with a wistful hunger before fading away to nothing. The ex-ranger felt a surge of loss and loneliness and sighed to himself. Being the Wolf had always been the best, then he had never been alone. 

"Well, we're obviously on our own." Skye said aloud, breaking his reverie abruptly.

Billy considered the Star crystal with an experienced eye. "There is no feasible way that it is that easy to get," he speculated.

It might as well have "trap" written all over it. They waited a while as Billy frowned and examined the area for obvious traps... and the sounds of monsters grew louder and closer. In the end Billy decided on the trial and error approach and walked forward slowly. 

"Billy...." Skye warned concerned.

"I will endeavor to be exceptionally careful," Billy replied nervously, inching forward. He was about three metres away when suddenly his whole body felt as if he were enveloped by fire, he could hear the crackling flames, even smell the burning of hair and flesh. Crying out in pain he staggered backwards and into a sharp blessed relief. He looked down at his trembling hands and was relieved to see them unmarked by fire. 

"Billy?! You okay?" Skye asked in concern steadying him. Billy composed himself breathing heavily.

"Fine.... Somehow I don't think this is for me," he said regretfully. _Time to give up another power,_ he thought... though to be fair, this wasn't his, he could sense that much himself.

He took a deep breath and shot the artist a look. "I think you should try."

"You sure?" Skye queried uncertain.

"We were told that it was the only way off this planet... and I believe it. After all, that information came from ourselves, we've got to try."

Skye reluctantly nodded and limped forwards, bracing himself for the worse but found that though he was aware of the shield, he was immune to its agonizing effects. He stopped and looked back when he reached the spire with the Star crystal perched within a hands grasp.

"So... do I just take the crystal? Oh hey, I see some sort of writing on the spire thing," Skye said nervously.

"Can you tell what is says?" Billy asked. The strange writing shimmered into a readable form.

"The Claimer will be claimed.... I think" Skye read out. "Any idea what it means?" 

"None as yet," Billy sighed. There were too many things about this that he didn't know for him to feel comfortable about any of it.

"Well, do I take it? " Skye asked again staring at the crystal shimmering rainbows at him. He wanted it... it called to him... but through his brief touches of Billy's mind he also felt his desperate hope for a return of the power, a return to the team. Maybe there would be a way to transfer this power to Billy later. The ex-ranger nodded slowly in response to his question.

Skye took a deep breath and reached forward. The moment his hand closed around the crystal, all hell let loose! Lightening arced from the sky and discharged from the crystals around them into the Star Crystal wreathing Skye in silver white electric fire. Skye appeared paralyzed, trapped in an ever increasing firestorm. The resulting thunderclaps appeared to shake the earth with their intense sound. Billy panicked briefly; how could he reach him beyond the shield?. The answer arrived... he'd have to reach him very quickly! He took a running leap at his friend. The pain was intense as he sailed throw the air but mercifully brief as he knocked Skye down.

"Get us out of here!" he cried out as the flames appeared to envelop him once more.

The lightening lashed at him and struck him on the leg as Skye, instinctively obeying Billy's desperate command and his own instinct for survival, tapped into the forces of the Star Crystal, willing them away from this dangerous place. In a dark jolt totally unlike teleporting using the morphin' grid they were suddenly collapsed outside his house again in an incongruously sunny and pleasant afternoon. Skye, his white hair wild and tousled by the rough trip, tried to get up and then with a weak sigh slumped back to the ground. He looked drained and exhausted. 

"So tired," he mumbled straining to keep his eyes open.

Billy got up painfully feeling everyone of his bruises clamoring for attention, and reached for his communicator just as Cogs appeared once more.

"Oh give me a break!" Billy yelled to the air in frustration.

Like he hadn't had a tough enough time already today. Obviously, Mondo was trying to retrieve Skye whilst he was weakened... presumably that was a side effect of the psi-teleport. Well Billy wasn't going to just sit here and let that happen, Powers or no Powers. Ignoring all his aches and pains he battled the Cogs hoping that Alpha would register the attack and teleport them both out. He saw a Cog lift some sort of device and aim it at the weakly struggling Skye, and pushed him out of the way again. The bush behind Skye became enveloped in a crackling glow which faded revealing the leaves to be laced with delicate metallic circuitry. 

"A cyberiser! So that's how Mondo thought he was going to get control of Skye and the Crystal!" Billy exclaimed, the pieces falling into place.

The Cog turned again and Billy rolled under the line of fire and with a legsweep knocked the Cog off balance. The Cog dropped the cyberiser as Billy grabbed for it.

"I wonder what effect a cyberiser would have on metal?" he mused and with a hint of steel in his blue eyes leveled it at the Cog. From the way the Cog cringed in fear, not a nice one. With a wolfish smile Billy fired at the Cogs and then watched in mild astonishment as the cogs began to self destruct as their circuitry tried to rewrite itself too quickly. 

"Prodigious." Billy said amazed.

"Billy..." Skye interrupted weakly. "Put the weapon down," he said with a strong hint of urgency in his voice.

"Why?" Billy wanted to keep it- think of what a help it would be! 

"There's something wrong... dangerous... feel it." Skye said. Billy hesitated, noticed that the Star Crystal in the artists hand was glowing and then abruptly threw the weapon away. He suddenly had to duck as it exploded midair. He was stung by a few flying pieces of debris, but that faded into insignificance compared to the thought of it exploding in his hand. 

"If that had... I mean... oh my god...." he gulped and then helped Skye up.

He examined his communicator in more detail... obviously if Alpha had not picked them up the Rangers must be in battle elsewhere.... Ah, a loose connection. He twisted a few wires together and grabbed hold of Skye. 

"I'm going to teleport us to the... well you will see...." he said. It was difficult to explain.

"I know... the Power Chamber." Skye said indistinctly 

"Wha... How did you know that?" Billy asked.

"Guess I picked up more than just who the Power Rangers are... from your mind." Skye whispered. The ex-ranger hoisted him up more securely, feeling uncomfortable with the idea that anyone had seen any part of his mind, but put that to one side. He could not leave Skye where the Machine Empire might get him, not whilst he was so weak.

"Lets go!" Billy said and they flashed away to the Power Chamber.

* * *

The sight that met them on arrival was worrying. Alpha rushing around from console to console. Tommy was apparently unconscious on a table, still morphed, the Rangers in the viewing globe obviously struggling with a particularly ugly looking monster. Billy let Skye slide to the ground gently. 

"I've er...." he struggled to explain, not wanting to just drop him and run, but knowing that was exactly what he had to do.

"I understand Billy... I'll be okay...." Skye said simply.

"Billy! I am very glad you have been able to return," Zordon said warmly. "The other rangers are experiencing difficulties."

Billy nodded, moving briskly to a control panel, and began working. 

"I can see... I had to bring Skye here Zordon," he explained hurriedly as he processed information. "He discovered our identities, everybody's. Right from the start." 

"I understand," Zordon replied.

Billy was surprised, Zordon was taking this very well. Before, there had been lectures and diatribes on the seriousness of someone knowing the identities of the Rangers. All his carefully planned reasons were suddenly not necessary. A tiny voice inside of Billy piped up, W_hat does he know? Why is this different?_ but it became lost in a morass of technical problems.

"Ah well... he's weak from psi-teleporting us both and the Cogs were after him... I thought it best that he be protected here." _Well, why waste the basics of a good excuse,_ he thought.

Zordon inclined his head, "You are correct Billy.... Now the others need your expertise," he said. "Alpha has been unable to find a significant weakness in the Tin Man monster." 

Billy nodded. His brief glance at the readouts had told him as much. 

"What about Tommy?" he asked concerned, glancing at the motionless Red Zeo Ranger. Sometimes these problems were progressive.

"He is in a stasis field created by the Tin Man. His life signs are stable," Alpha contributed.

"Then he is fine for now." Billy turned to Alpha's data frowning. Alpha had been as ever, thorough, covering all the conventional options, deflectors forcefields and all the rest of it... but sometimes these problems needed a quirky human perspective. His mind began to work furiously. 

"Tin Man... tin man....what slowed down the tin man?" He had found that these monsters followed a bizarre internal logic. He muttered and then froze. The Tin Man had been rusted to a standstill when Dorothy found him... a simple but effective ploy. Obviously "rust" was a misnomer, but what about a hyper-oxidant? Moving quickly he projected a computer analysis of ignoring the progressively insistent pain from all over his body.

"Yes! A positive result!" Billy exulted. "Alpha, I need a cylinder of the Zord hyper-oxidant." 

He ran to his laboratory in the Power Chamber a grabbed a basic spray gun. 

"A little reinforcing... _Here,_ a control mechanism there... and the hyper-oxidant cylinder... Thanks Alpha... and there! An instant rust gun!"

Billy looked at the Rangers in the Viewing Globe. They were busy fighting, he would have to go down himself. He grabbed the rust gun and turned to Zordon and Alpha.

"I'm teleporting down there Alpha," he said firmly.

"Aye-yie-yie, be careful Billy!" 

"I will, look after Tommy and Skye." And with that, he vanished in a stream of light. 

* * *

Skye pushed himself up. At least he had enough strength to stand now which was an improvement. But he still felt like he had been run over by a truck. A _big_ truck. Possibly a convoy. He looked up at the huge floating head in a tube and took a deep breath. It was one thing to pick up the image Billy's mind, quite another to see it all in person. He felt compelled to speak.

"Er hi... you must be Zordon," he said hesitantly. 

"Welcome to the Power Chamber, Skye Brannon, I have been waiting to meet you for a while." Zordon said. "You are now the holder of the Star Crystal... it is a great responsibility," He intoned. Skye nodded solemnly.

"You understand about the oath of silence required about the Power Rangers?" continued Zordon.

"I do," Skye confirmed. Indeed, even in that brief contact with Billy's mind the oath of silence had been vivid in its intensity. He held the Star Crystal up in his hand. "Is there anyway that I can give this to Billy? Anyway at all?" The Crystal shimmered and sang in his mind. 

"I am afraid not," Zordon replied regretfully."The Star Crystal can only be mastered by one with a naturally high psychic ability--which you possess. None of the other Rangers have the same type of ability." 

Skye sighed. "I had hoped that maybe... well then I think I will need some help with this," he said. He looked over at the Red Zeo Ranger 

"How is... Tommy?" he asked, lifting his name from what he had seen of Billy's memories.

"He is in Stasis," Alpha said "Aye yie-yi... but the other Rangers really need him." 

Skye walked over to Tommy. The glittering song of the Star Crystal seemed to fill his mind... with a prompting, an urging to action.

"Maybe..." he began "Maybe I can do... something...?" He looked at Zordon, who paused. 

"It is possible," the Eltarian admitted. He seemed to be almost holding his breath as if this was some sort of test for the artist. Skye reached towards Tommy and closed his eyes letting an instinctive force guide him. His mind embraced the stasis field, bonded with its energies then... a sharp twist, a wedge... glittering bright like a knife and the Stasis field collapsed with a gentle dispersal of energy. Skye sank down, exhausted again. This Star Crystal business was proving to be very tiring! Tommy shot awake with a yell. 

"Ow... damn that hurt! Guys?" Tommy looked around confused. "What am I doing in the Power Chamber?" he was even more surprised to see a stranger in the Power chamber slumped next to him. He looked ill... but Tommy recognized him as the person abducted alongside Billy.

"What happened? What's going on?" he asked. 

"You became locked in stasis when you were hit by the Axe of the TinMan. Billy managed to return from Sionas and has managed to devise a weapon to assist the Rangers, and has taken it to them. Skye managed to break the stasis surrounding you," Zordon replied. 

"Oh thanks... er, Skye..." Tommy said, trying to take in the news. It seem like just a moment ago when he was facing Tin Man and the Axe sheered down towards.... He pushed the memory away.

"S'okay Tommy" Skye responded tiredly. Tommy looked at the viewing globe, taking in the troubling scene and his expression hardened into purposeful lines. 

"I have got to get back to the others." The red Ranger focused his mind and shouted, "Back to Action!" before disappearing in a brilliant flash of crimson light. Skye decided that now would probably be as good a time as any to sleep. Not that he could have stopped himself if he tried. 

* * *

Billy teleported in close to the battle hearing the sounds of conflict nearby to the right of him. He sneaked closer, knowing he would only get one true shot. With any luck, that would be all he needed. He lined up the shot closely only ten metres from the monster and made sure no-one was around before shouting, "Guys! get clear!"

Startled, the Zeo Rangers glanced around and seeing Billy, jumped out of the way.

__

Finally, a clear shot! Billy fired a stream of hyper-oxidant with calculated precision and with great satisfaction saw the oxidizing effect begin to occur immediately, effectively paralyzing Mondo's creation. Tommy flashed in and the team formed up again to finish it off.

Billy sighed... just for a moment, a very brief moment he'd felt like it was the old days again. Slightly subdued, he transported back to the Power Chamber. The battle with Mondo's monster was probably going to be very predictable from this point onwards.

Finding Skye asleep on the floor of the Power Chamber and his well-meant attempt to move him to a couch had brought it home to him that he was more than a little battered himself. He was dabbing at the burn on his right leg--the lightening burn, he had been struck by lightening, who would believe it!--when he heard the others return. Damn, and he wasn't finished yet. He listened as Zordon congratulated them on their victory with a small wry smile on his face. 

"Billy?" He heard Adam calling.

"In here," he replied barely raising his voice... if he stopped now he'd lose the grip he had on the dressing. One handed wound dressing was not easy. Adam came in.

"What are you doing Billy?" 

Billy indicated his leg and a few cuts and a lot of bruises. "Patching myself up. It's about time we had a proper medical facility up here," he said flippantly, and then seriously considered it. Adam watched unsure of what to say.

"Here let me help," he said suddenly, picking up a sterile swab. Billy was surprised but acquiesced.

"Adam? Billy?" Tanya's voice echoed.

"In here," they chorused. Tanya and Rocky appeared at the door.

"Zordon has just been explaining to us about Skye," Tanya said. 

"Yeah, Tommy and Jason are asking how he found out." There was a question in that statement from Rocky. Unconsciously they all glanced at the sleeping artist and at the gleaming crystal he held even now in his hand.

"Sionas crystal had a peculiar property of enhancing the powers of the mind. Skye already had some abilities in this area and was able to pick up who everyone was out of my mind," Billy tried to explain. There was an uncomfortable silence. Adam took a deep breath. "We tried to get you out, but we couldn't," Adam explained in a guilty rush, "We found you, but the interference blocked all our attempts to teleport you."

Billy nodded. "I thought as much... it was fortunate that the Star Crystal enabled Skye to teleport us both out of there." 

"And hey, you saved our butts out there today," Rocky added.

Tanya smiled "We just wanted to say thank you," she finished warmly. 

Billy smiled a little but then he noticed the wary glances exchanged by Adam and Rocky, and his blue eyes became like chips of deep glacier ice. "But Tommy and Jason aren't happy that I went into battle hmm?" he stated. "Ow, careful Adam," he winced.

The three Zeo Rangers looked guilty. "They're just worried that you might get hurt!" Rocky said defensively. "Because you don't...." He stopped, gulping back the words.

Billy's expression could have made them permafrost. "... have any Powers, I know." He turned away hearing a muffled omff from Rocky as one of the others hit him. What was he to say? It's okay, I don't mind, I don't miss the Powers it's not a problem? 

__

No... He looked up and said "I'll try to be more... careful."

He deliberately didn't remind them that none of his injuries had been caused by him joining the battle. Rocky smiled and nodded accepting the words at face-value, whilst inwardly Billy seethed. Not even a hint of his emotions appeared on his face, though Adam looked troubled.

"You guys get some rest," he said finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I'll bring Skye down to meet everyone properly when he wakes up." 

* * *

Later, when they had gone, Billy sat frozen, his thoughts whirling. God he wanted the Powers, he really did. He understood that the Star Crystal was not for him, and it was nothing like a ranger power, but the lack of the Zeo power, it still haunted him. Oh he'd known, he'd known something had been wrong from not long after the destruction of the Command Center. He'd been ill... experienced some strange symptoms but hadn't told them because he didn't want them to worry about it.

__

But had they even bothered to ask? a traitorous voice sounded. _Once you got up and took charge did anyone ask if you were all right?_

Even before the test confirmed it he knew deep down he was never going to be able to accept the Zeo powers. But he had hoped the Gold Powers would be that much stronger, and overcome the anti-protons. No joy there. No joy anywhere. The ache... the loss... that emptiness, and the growing isolation, sometimes it would just grow and grow and grow... and maybe one day it would never stop....

Billy got up suddenly and briskly began to draw up charts and design schematics for a new medical centre in the Power Chamber. It was imperative that they have one as soon as possible... otherwise, next time it could be one of his friends getting hurt.

As he walked away, the Star Crystal flared with blue light in Skye's hands... and the image of the wolf and the star burned in his dreaming mind more vivid than ever. He stood with the Star shining through him, his eyes questioning. The Wolf seemed to look directly into the dreaming artist soul, promising him something for himself and something for his new friend, for them all... something... something powerful, something dangerous before fading into the shadows, though his presence remained and the same echoing alien words resounded in the vaults of his mind....

Zordon, his heart sinking, listened carefully to the chilling words repeating over and over from the sleeping artist.

"M'Khi lucea-sa!! Zha'Khee-ree aa!" Skye whispered in his sleep. 

And though it was a phrase that had not been heard for many, many millennia Zordon knew what it meant in a heartbeat that separated him from hopeful uncertainty about the future to despairing certain knowledge.

"The Sun goes Down," he translated in a stricken voice to himself. "Behold The Darkness Visible." 

And in the empty room the shadows seemed to draw strength from his words.

### End

Authors Note:- This was my first ever fic and written a loooong time ago! Still I welcome feedback even though I hope I have improved somewhat since then.


	2. Wolf in Darkness

**__**

Disclaimer: Who would believe it but I don't own the Power Rangers or anything to do with them? Saban does. However, I did invent Skye Brannon so I guess I own him and any other new things you see in here. This is the second fic in the Sun goes Down series, taking place after Questing Wolf. Enjoy!

### Wolf in Darkness  
by [Peregrine][1]

Billy walked wearily towards the Juice Bar. His sandy hair was tousled, his eyes bruised with fatigue and he would be the first to admit he was exhausted. There had been a heavy spate of monster attacks over the past couple of weeks and he had had very little sleep since after the battles he just about managed to fix a Zord and there would be another fight and the damn thing would be trashed all over again! He had finally managed to pry himself away from the Power Chamber, more at the request of Skye than lack of work though. The white haired artist had insisted (...loudly!) saying he was doing too much, and that he hadn't recovered from all the things that had happened over the last year.

__

The worst thing is that he is right, Billy thought to himself.

So for the first time in, well, months, he had come down to the Juice Bar where Skye said he would buy him a drink and they would just hang out... no pressure. He walked in through the door memories overwhelming him briefly. He was momentarily dizzy with images of the old times with Kim, Zach, Jason and Trini. They had practically lived in this place! Somehow things had seemed easier then, more clear cut. Not like now.

Billy sighed to himself and looked up automatically at their old table... the "ranger table". The Rangers were all there. Tommy, Kat, Jason, Tanya Adam and Rocky... and with a peculiar sensation he realized there was no place at the table for him. When they had met in the old days, if they were not all there a place was left, expectant of their arrival. In ways he tried to ignore, this oversight tore at a very vulnerable part of him but he convinced himself it was nothing. He had become very good at shutting things off since giving up the Power. He felt the wall of isolation crash down around him again as the others looked up with astonished expressions, as if he was a complete stranger or something.

"Billy! Great, I'll get the drinks!" a voice said behind him and he jumped slightly as the moment fractured.

Billy turned to see Skye putting down his sketch book and getting up awkwardly from a different table. If there was something that he had noticed since meeting Skye was that his new friend would sketch all the time, draw on anything that came to hand almost without thinking about it. He could drift off into another world when he had a pencil in his hand, much like he himself did when he was working on a problem. It was a bit disconcerting to see him do it though, in the middle of a conversation, him carry on talking and elaborate pictures just appear on the nearest available surface.

"Billy?" Skye smiled at him waving a hand in front his face and he realized he must have drifted out of it himself. He was having a really difficult time keeping his thoughts together.

"Sorry." he apologized. Almost unconsciously he smiled back tiredly.

He liked Skye. He could talk to him for a start, which was something rare enough in his life to be worth something. Maybe it was because neither of them were actually Rangers... or maybe it was something to do with Skye's abilities, admittedly slightly erratic abilities, that meant he didn't have to try to explain how he felt. Since the white haired artist had retrieved the Star Crystal from Sionas he reported that his sensitivity appeared to be growing and that he was often picking up surface thoughts and emotions without trying. Zordon was apparently helping him control these abilities. Certainly the Eltarian had taken a much greater interest in the artist since he had made it back from Sionas. Even now Skye had picked up something, he had that look in his eye. Billy tried to tightly bottle up his morose feelings.

The artist frowned. "You okay Billy?" he asked softly concerned

"I'm fine, fine really... just a little tired that's all." Billy replied, rubbing his eyes, not entirely for effect. His contacts had been in too long. Probably because... when had been the last time he took them out? He couldn't remember.

Skye looked unconvinced. "Look, you can tell me..." he began quietly, and stopped as Billy's expression froze up.

Skye changed tactics "Whenever you're ready, Billy". he said softly. He fixed his gray blue eyes on Billy until he got some sort of a response.

Billy nodded mutely, pleased to be let off the hook. He just wasn't ready for an emotional grilling.

__

What would he think if he saw all the negative thoughts and feelings I have? If they really knew how I felt about being Powerless, about how they act? What would any of them think? he thought, depressed. _Best to never find out._

"I'll get your usual yeah?" Skye asked interrupting his scattered thoughts and Billy nodded again.

"Fine thanks."

"Okay back in a mo," Skye said lightly and limped over to Ernie to get the smoothies.

Billy turned to say hello to the others.

"Er... hiya guys" he said nervously. What was wrong with him? He felt like he was speaking to people he didn't know. For a brief, disorientating moment it was like he was looking at totally unfamiliar people, not friends with whom he had been through life and death situations. It felt so strange.

"Didn't expect to see you here " Rocky commented slightly taken aback, and then grinned in belated welcome.

"Well, Skye asked me down for a drink" Billy replied Why did he feel like he had to justify his presence?

"I have to get out once in a while," he tried a smile but his heart wasn't in it.

A small bitter voice inside of him said it had been a long time since any of them had asked him there for a drink... or anywhere for anything.

Yeah... true enough Billy" Adam said "Good to see you."

He looked like he was about to offer him a chair but as he did so Tommy interrupted in a low voice, "Say Billy, when you get back to the Power Chamber take a look at Red Battlezord, yeah? That last monster got me good a few times because it didn't respond very well to my commands."

Billy's blue eyes suddenly went coldly blank at Tommy's words. There was a moments silence.

"Yes," he said in dull wooden tones. "I'll just go and do that now".

As if without thought, he turned and walked out leaving them all shocked and surprised in his wake.

* * *

Skye was more than a little worried as he turned to go and get the drinks. Even without using the Star Crystal he could feel Billy's mind aching with a psychic pain. Dammit, you only had to look at the guy to realize that something was wrong, see the state of him. He could not believe that everyone was taking it for granted, that they were not seeing the problem. If he had managed to fit into the group easily, then maybe he could have had a few words, but to be frank though they knew him, they hadn't accepted him. Maybe because he wasn't a Ranger, maybe because they were worried about him reading their minds or something (he snorted to himself) or perhaps the whole "invader" on a close circle of friends thing. Whatever the reason, his relationship had been kept very much on an acquaintance level... arms length, cordial, pleasant but not exactly welcoming. Skye inhaled deeply.

__

I've made a big mistake, he thought. _Billy needs them to help him not just me, and I'm not even sure that I can help him or if he wants to be helped! I should have pushed my way in to their group, been more assertive....but I just can't do that!_

Billy was obviously very close to the edge, probably to do with the stress of the last few weeks in particular. He needed to try and talk him down _now_ before something else happened, and maybe then buy enough time to get the others involved.

__

I don't think he will take another attack, he thought to himself as he ordered the smoothies. _He is too close to the edge. I guess it didn't help being passed over by the Star Crystal either, rubbing salt in the wounds, as it were. The others appeared to have NO idea what they are unconsciously doing to him... but then is Billy letting them know how he feels?_

Ernie passed him the drinks and just as he was turning with them he felt and mentally heard a sharp "CRACK" like a rifle shot that startled him so much he jumped and slopped the drinks. He whirled around just in time to see Billy walk out of the bar. Alarm bells ringing in his mind, with a burning anger he stalked over to the Rangers table and hissed, "What did you just say to Billy?!"

Tommy looked up, startled at the hostility in the artists voice. He had always seemed really easy going, but then he didn't know him that well.

"We said hi... and I asked him to look at Red Battlezord when he got back to the Power Chamber... and he walked off!" Tommy explained with a tinge of confusion in his voice.

Skye took his hand away from the Star Crystal, the entire scene having flashed through his mind from six different perspectives. All of them bad.

"You have no idea what you have done," he gritted his teeth "Dammit!" and he half-ran as swiftly as he could out of the Juice Bar after Billy.

Tommy turned around to the others and asked plaintively, "What? What did I do wrong? I was just trying to start a conversation!"

* * *

He had heard/sensed Billy's mind crack of that he was now positive. One last demand, one final pressure had finally tipped the scales on a mind too close to the edge. He had to find him, and the logical place for him to go was... the Power Chamber. Skye flinched mentally as he ran to the nearest "no see zone." What Billy could do... what he might do in his current state of mind! He could destroy the Rangers in a moment--they didn't realize how much they relied upon his expertise. Billy could shut down Zordon and Alpha and get rid of the Zeo crystal, but Skye thought that even now he would not try to destroy the thing that had hurt him, he would try to take himself out of the reach out such a temptation. At least, he hoped that was the case. Skye swiftly checked for watchers and using his own communicator given to him by Billy to stop him being seized by Mondo again, he teleported to the Power Chamber with a feeling of dread building in the depths of his gut.

* * *

The lights were down in the Power Chamber. Billy had been and gone. Alpha was deactivated and Zordon in a transdimensional lock of some description. Skye, after racking his brains for a while, finally remembered what Billy had told him about Alpha and found his activation switch. Lights flickered on the little droid and he sprang to life.

"Ay-yi-yie! Billy what are you...." the little droid stopped, suddenly realizing the absence of his subject.

"Skye, Where is Billy?" Alpha asked, "He was acting most strangely.

"I don't know, Alpha. I need you to break the lock on Zordon and find out where he went!" Skye replied, urgency creeping into his voice.

Alpha quickly broke the lock and Zordon's familiar image floated back to life.

"Skye, I am glad that you are here, something is wrong with Billy," Zordon said in a concerned tone.

Skye resisted the urge to say, "No really?! I wouldn't have guessed!" remembering that Billy had told him that Eltarians did not appear to have a refined appreciation of irony or sarcasm. He took a deep breath.

"Yes... the pressure the isolation all the pain and hurt he has suffered has finally become too much " Skye said, a trifle bitterly.

"I did not realize that he had been under so much strain." Zordon sounded sorrowful.

Skye tried to bite back a response but failed as his long suppressed views rose irresistibly to the surface. "You _all_ should have seen what it was doing to him! You're meant to be his friends! None of the others could see it either! What do you expect of him? Time and time again the result of each battle comes down to him, the lives of his friends, of the general population and they shut him off! Why? because he has no Power! to _protect_ him? Ha! Because of guilt more like... he has given and given and received nothing in return... and the others isolate him for it, only you are all so wrapped up in it all that you can't seem to see it!" he shouted in a righteous anger.

Zordon sighed his features downcast "You are correct," he said.

Skye controlled himself with difficulty. "I apologize Zordon... I'm just frustrated and concerned on his behalf, and that wasn't entirely fair to you or the others." He fingered the Star Crystal nervously "I can't explain it... I get this feeling of... dread... it's just I have to do something!"

"He has teleported himself to Phaedos," Alpha reported.

"Would you teleport me there?" Skye asked hopefully.

"We will... it will cause a large Power Drain, but nothing too detrimental to the team," Zordon replied. "Can you help him?" the Eltarian asked suddenly. Billy was probably the closest Ranger there had ever been to him, more like a son. He had been aware of Billy's distress but not that it was so critical. He had meant to make him take time off but Billy resisted and had thrown himself into work... into the work that only Billy could do.

Skye touched the Star Crystal that hung around his neck for reassurance, surprised by the question from Zordon. "God, I hope so, Zordon, I really do! I will try anything within my Power," he replied fervently.

"Alpha prepare to transport Skye to Phaedos immediately," announced Zordon.

"Yes Zordon." The little droid moved over to the main console and paused, waiting for Skye to ready himself. The artist darted over to Billy's work area and hunted around for a small shard of Sionas crystal that Billy had picked up on their visit there. He found it and tucked it in his shirt pocket and turned to face the Eltarian before he was transported.

"One thing Zordon," the artist said "I don't think it would be a good idea for Billy to see the others just yet... not that I want to keep them apart, but right now after what happened... it could finish him... so maybe...."

"I will prevent them from following you to Phaedos as long as possible. I understand Skye". Zordon replied. "And may the Power protect you both. "

With that Skye disappeared in a shimmering beam of silvery white light.

"Bring him back safe to us" Zordon added quietly and prepared himself for the arrival of the other Rangers.

* * *

Skye landed a trifle unsteadily, very close to the temple of the Ninjetti, for which he thanked Alpha's thoughtfulness silently. His leg probably would not stand a really rough trek from the sea-cliffs to the plateau especially after the stretched and pulled feeling of such a long teleportation which was just a downright peculiar sensation. He looked around.

It was strange. It was the same, it was exactly how he painted it. If it were not for the seriousness of the situation he would be content to breathe in the air of this place that had lived in his mind for so long. It even smelt the same as he seen it, though that didn't really make sense. It was just he somehow had very distinct memories of this place, and certain events that took place here. Speaking of which..... He touched the crystal feeling his awareness expand swelled with its power. He could sense Billy up on the plateau in the Temple itself, but instead of his usual clear blue brilliant mindtouch, his mind was a chaotic mass of burning red/black rage and pain shot with crackling yellow white of fear. But there, approaching, the glimmering bright green and white touch of a Ninjetti mind, shining like a beacon to his sensitized mind.

"Dulcea!" he whispered aloud.

She appeared before him, stunningly dressed in, well very little actually, and supremely confident in her strength of mind, body and spirit.

"Hold!" she shouted a challenge to him that rang in the clear air between them.

"Are you a seeker of the Great Power?" she asked in accordance with the age old ritual.

He met her piercing gaze steadily. "The only thing I seek is the well-being and presence of my friend Billy Cranston of Earth" he replied formally. "Have you seen him?"

Dulcea relaxed. "Thank the Powers!" she said. "He is here but he did not appear to recognize me."

"You know him? Despite the timeline differences?" Skye asked. That had been something he had thought might cause a problem. If it technically didn't happen, then would Dulcea still accept Billy on Phaedos?

"Of course." Dulcea replied "The Great Power is a power of the spirit, and time holds no sway over spirit. The time-shift may have removed their ways of accessing the Power, but their spirits still achieved the Great Power, and that can never be altered. I certainly recognized him, but he was not aware of me... what happened to him?"

"He has been over-strained," Skye said delicately.

Dulcea's expression shifted to one of concern. "They pushed him too far? she asked softly.

Skye nodded slowly "Yes" he said simply, as she appeared to understand.

She shook her head. "The Wolf Spirits are often taken advantage of because of their need to give their all....and he is of the Blue also." she shrugged as if that statement explained it all.

Dulcea then looked at the youth before her appraisingly. It was strange but he felt like a Ninjetti yet she was absolutely sure she had never seen him before, in this timeline or any other. This may cause problems in his quest to help his friend. Phaedos had a tendency to be... unwelcoming to non-Ninjetti.

"I am afraid that you cannot enter the part of the temple where he has taken refuge unless you are Ninjetti" she explained regretfully.

To her surprise the newcomer seemed unperturbed "I am Skye, I am his friend and I must try to help him."

"But I have not given the test to you... I am the Master Warrior of the Ninjetti." Dulcea pointed out beginning to sound suspicious.

"Nevertheless…." Skye said firmly meeting her implied accusation impassively.

Dulcea twirled her Singing Staff experimentally, the haunting sound glittering in the air. It seemed to cause him no discomfort, which showed he was not evil of spirit.

"What is your Animal Spirit?" she demanded coldly.

Skye met her accusing emerald gaze straight on without wavering. "I cannot say" he replied ambiguously.

Dulcea frowned. Well so be it then. If he wished to be foolhardy he would gain nothing but discomfort....

"Then be warned Skye of Earth, for if you are not of the Ninjetti and you trespass on the Sacred Heart of the Temple, the punishment is unpleasant."

Skye nodded "I will be fine Dulcea." he reassured

Dulcea shook her head but walked ahead, beckoning him to follow. He would soon rue his masquerade--the shock the barrier could give was painful to say the least. The ways of the Great Power were not to be mocked or taken lightly.

* * *

The Sacred Heart of the Temple was a secret raised area beyond the normal level of the plateau where Dulcea conducted the ceremony of the summoning of the Animal totems. It was an area that had been used in the past, millennia ago, for the advance training of the Ninjetti and spiritual development. It was where Ninjetti Masters gathered and met also, on the very infrequent occasions in the distant past when such gatherings had been required. Dulcea admitted that she had been slightly surprised that Billy had seemed to know of it's existence, but the Wolf naturally sought the hidden knowledge. She spent much of her time there herself, when not flying in her Owl-form.

She stepped through the two pillar entrance, the black and white pillars, through the barrier and then watched in astonishment as Skye stepped calmly in behind her. But that would mean he was Ninjetti! But how?

She inclined her head "My apologies--I doubted you." she said. It was perhaps the first time she had apologized in several millennia and the words came with difficulty and brought with them an awakened spirit of curiosity that had been lethargic all this time. She had been wrong and she wanted to know why!

He just smiled in response and nodded as if he expected as much. Infuriating!

"Dulcea, I would ask you to leave me alone with Billy... and prevent anyone else from approaching. This will not be easy." requested Skye. To be truthful, he was exceptionally nervous about whether he could do anything. This had been done on a wing and a prayer, on the feeling that there was something he could do, though he wasn't entirely sure what it was.

"What is it you are hoping to do?" she asked.

Skye pulled the Star Crystal from within his shirt into sight and Dulcea's eyes widened in mild shock.

"You hold the Star Crystal?" she questioned. Ah well then, some part of this mystery was explained, but then a greater mystery was born at the same time.

"Yes am hoping to use it to reach into Billy's mind and heal him." Skye explained. A vague but essentially truthful answer. "It will be difficult have to get into his mind... and to do that he must trust me enough to let down his guard."

Dulcea nodded slightly, she had heard of such things. "I will keep you from interruptions." Dulcea said and then added in a serious voice

"But you must understand that if you cannot help Billy then he must not return to Earth. An insane Ninjetti is too dangerous to be allowed into the world--especially one with Billy's capabilities."

Skye nodded. He understood all too well but there was one point he felt he should clarify. "Dulcea, if I cannot help Billy the chances are that we will both be dead," he said flatly. His understanding was that if he lost control of what he was doing they would both be torn to pieces on a mental level. Which needless to say was not a good thing.

Dulcea looked grim and it was then that Skye realized the hidden message in her original statement: there was no place _anywhere_ for an insane Ninjetti.

* * *

Skye could sense the turmoil of Billy's mind roiling and burning close to him as he walked to the centre of the stone hewed area.

"Billy!?" he called out "It's me Skye, your friend!" The sound of his voice echoed into the listening silence.

"Billy?"

"Go away!" shouted Billy his voice harsh with anger and pain "I have _no_ friends!"

Then a mournful howl full of pain and sorrow rang out startling Skye... unsure whether it was Billy or a wolf. He took a deep breath, trying to quell his nerves.

"Billy you do have friends, many friends" he said soothingly "I am your friend, you are my friend , you saved my life, now I want to help you... remember?"

A low growling mumble came from the outside difficult to make out. "....remember loneliness... remember pain... loss... " it faded away into nothingness.

"Talk to me Billy" Skye pleaded urgently to the shadows around him. _Oh god he was going to lose him before they even got a chance to try anything!_ "Tell me about it, you can trust me." There was a dead silence.

"I can't trust anyone!" screamed Billy from the shadows "Everybody hurts me in the end!"

"I won't Billy" Skye said softly. He touched the star crystal, picking up the surface emotions of his friend wincing at their harsh edges and painful texture.

"If I trust you you will hurt me." Billy's voice said as if stating an irrevocable fact. His emotions were of extreme vulnerability--he was lashing out because he was currently very insecure. Skye consider the situation softly. Maybe if he tried to give him back that control he lacked for... most of his life.

"Billy... What if I make it so I _can't_ hurt you?" Skye suggested gingerly.

There was a profound silence from Billy's direction.. Hesitancy seeped into Skye's awareness from his direction.

"I promise I won't move or do anything until you feel safe... I really want you to trust me Billy." he said aloud and then slowly and deliberately sat down in the open area--silently terrified. Billy could and probably would do anything. Skye willed himself to shut his eyes and felt Billy prowling like a nervous wolf around the edges of his perception. He wasn't sure he could do this... he wasn't sure at all.

* * *

Hours later Billy had prowled near him--there had been outbursts of irrational shouts, but Skye had not moved. As he had sat here, glimpsing fragments of emotions and thoughts he had pieced together an idea of things from what he sensed and the conversations they had had in the time since they had met.

Billy felt that his life was under threat, his very self. Why? because he had defined his sense of self in his adolescent years through the assumption of the Powers. He defined his being as a Power Ranger... he made it not something he did, but something he became inside. It was easy to understand why... as it appeared that the pre-ranger Billy had chronically low self esteem and little sense of self. That he had gathered from the others and Billy himself. He appeared to disregard his intelligence as a valuable factor for self esteem but relegated it to the status of a useful tool. So when the Power was removed he could not let go of his position as a part of the team... it would mean destroying himself. So he substituted his abilities for the Power, but it was an empty shell to him. He ceased to be defined as a person, he began to define himself by what he could do and produce as his sense of self eroded away under the same, if not increased, responsibility and pressure that existed when he had the Power to support him. Control eluded him... he needed to re-establish it and Skye could think of no other way to do it.

Even when Billy had flung a stone at him Skye did not move much to the palpable amazement of the ex-ranger. Skye allowed himself a little smile as he thought that he would make a killing with this Star Crystal if he went into psychiatry. If he ever got the chance. This was a little more active than psychiatry... aggressive psychic psychiatry....he had to stifle a nervous laugh.

But when you looked at it what had he done for his friend? Run after him, thrown him a few platitudes and then just sat down and done nothing. He might as well have patted him on the head and said "there, there, it'll be all right, now lets never speak of this again!" Obviously things were getting to him. When would this waiting ever end!?

"Stand up." Billy's voice came from the darkness.

Astonished Skye obeyed, his legs trembling from inactivity. His left leg cramped badly from the strain on it's damaged muscles. Tense, Skye remained as still as he could as Billy contemplated his next move. Nothing happened. Silently Skye sensed Billy's approach behind him, his neck prickling with great fear. Dark memories began to rise from his subconscious and he clamp them down, but his mind started to scream in remembered fear.

__

This is not the time, he ordered himself.

Billy moved around in front of him and stared at him in a way that stirred hideous reminders of his past. A speculative look, a look of barely hidden violence, but the difference was the desperation the hunted backed into a corner look. Billy stared at him for a long unnerving time. His mind was more focused now, but oddly more... dangerous. And that just wasn't a quality that immediately sprang to mind when thinking of Billy. Skye shivered.

And then... Billy lunged towards him and Skye instinctively, knowing immediately he had made a terrible mistake, thrust his hands out to push him back, to keep him away. As if that action had justified his entire outlook on life, Billy's expression took on a look of fighting for his life as he attacked Skye with a demented rage. Skye struggled against himself not to fight back, realizing that that would make it worse. Besides, Billy had been a Power Ranger, there was no way he could fight him effectively. He was knocked to the ground, and curled into a ball to protect his head and face as much as possible.

"Billy please no!" he cried out.

Rapid blows winded him and made it impossible to speak.

"You will not hurt me!" Billy screamed "Not like the others! I will not let you!"

Skye lost track of time and sound, even the pain and everything as he retreated to that place within that he had found--where what happened outside did not matter, did not touch him. Curled into a tight ball he weathered the strikes to his ribs and chest, legs, back with fists sticks and whatever came to hand. After a while, he let that place inside take him again into it's warm protective nothingness and silent darkness.

Eventually as the body before him became still and the crys of pain ceased, his berserk fury spent and tears running down his face, Billy dropped to his knees with a cry of anguish of someone who had bought their survival at such a price that they wanted to die.

* * *

When Skye regained consciousness, it was dark, and alien stars shone down upon him. A strange combination of pain and numbness came to his attention, his body knew it had been hurt, but couldn't quite believe it. He was probably in shock.

He groaned and shifted unable to really move. He felt somewhat detached from his own body. Whether that was normal he really didn't know, but what he did know what that if the terrible tiredness that seemed to be seeping into his mind overwhelmed him before he could connect with Billy then all hope would be lost. There was a small fire lit next to him though and as he turned his head, he saw Billy watching him, his hunched figure perched on a rock near him holding a crudely fashioned spear defensively. He was regarding him with the same type of expression that you would regard a dangerous animal that you were not sure was going to leap up for one final fatal charge.

"Billy..." Skye gasped, his mouth dry with fear.

Billy looked up. "Why haven't you hurt me?" he asked piteously. "I hurt you and you haven't hurt me... I don't understand. All the others did!"

"Because you are my friend!" Skye cried out as loudly as he could "Friends can still care for each other even if they hurt each other, you know that! Sometimes you have accept that you can hurt or be hurt if you care!" The effort exhausted him.

Billy seemed partially convinced "But how do I know you are telling the truth!?" he accused. "Words are just words sometimes... empty and hollow."

Ah... the moment... the opportunity. "I cannot lie with my mind." he said weakly. "Will you speak to me in your mind and know that I tell the truth?" There was a long moment of deliberation and then Billy said simply

"How?"

__

Yes, thought Skye, and just in time as the pain of this was beginning to seep through and then focusing would be impossible. He struggled to speak.

"Reach into... pocket... a small crystal there and take my hand."

Billy did so and as the artist had hoped, the connection between them became stronger and more intense, and amongst the red flames Skye found what he was seeking, a sparkling glimpse of pure blue and leapt with the Star Crystal enhanced powers of his mind to join with Billy's tormented psyche.

* * *

Darkness swirled around them....Billy stood next to him seemingly himself again or at least a part of himself, dressed in bright blues. He stood in pale greys and he appeared unable to move. Maybe the fact that he had tuned himself so closely to responding to Billy's actions prevented him from acting. Well then, that was the way to go, he wouldn't fight it. Billy was in control and his abilities could only be woken by a question or order. What better way of introducing control back into his friends mind? He stood silent until Billy finally spoke to him.

"What are we doing here?" his friend asked.

"We are here to find out the source of you pain and enable you to deal with it, to make you whole again."

Billy seemed calm and accepting. "How do we do that?"

"You ask me." Skye replied simply.

Billy considered this. It had to be his decision then, he had to decide to face this. "Well then. Skye take me to the place where I need to begin this journey." he asked resolutely. The darkness shimmered and then they were standing in the Juice Bar earlier that day. The scene replayed but they both watched as observers, watching themselves as participants.

"This is the trigger," Skye said as Billy watched the events unroll. "Why?" he asked softly.

Billy took a deep breath. "I was a stranger to them" he explained and then shook his head "No worse than that... I am a 'fixer,' that is all I am to them now, not part of the team, not a friend but something to patch things to mend and....in some ways worse than being a nerd. Even when I was a nerd I was still a person... now I am an object. Every time I see them there is a sense of pushing away, of isolation. I'm not one of 'us,' I'm one of 'them' now, I can see it in their eyes--I am not a Power Ranger anymore and never will be!" he finished on a despairing note.

The images blurred and shifted in response to a scene of Billy giving up his chance at being a Zeo Ranger to Tanya. Billy's face was a stark contrast to the composure show by the image before them.

"And this?" prompted Skye.

"I had to give it up... I some how knew that even then that I had been affected by the explosion... but it hurt more than I could have imagined, to give it up, to be distanced from the others.." his expression hardened. He walked over to the image of the Tanya and then looked at them all.

"The times... the times I hated them for not protesting, for letting me do it. I catch myself daydreaming about what would happen if one of them were injured or something and I would somehow be able to take over their Powers, and I find myself _wishing_ it would happen!" his voice was rich with self loathing. "Wishing my friends were injured... how sick is that?! Just so I can get the Power! I don't blame them for shutting me out. If they knew.....If they knew ...." his voice trailed off. He looked up with emotion darkened eyes. He looked at the Zeo Shard in Tanya's hand and exploded.

"I should have just taken it! I should have! and then to have the Gold Powers dangled before me and to find out I couldn't!....I wish I had never thrown myself in front of that console! Then I would be a Ranger and everything would be fine!"

Abruptly they were standing in the exploding Command Center and Billy watched himself throw his body in front of the Morphing Console to protect the others.

"No! No! Stupid! Stupid!" he shouted at his past self. "Why? Why did I do it!?"

Skye was suddenly able to contribute "Billy listen... if you hadn't have stepped in front of the console what do you think would have happened?" he asked.

A new image formed. One where Billy did not leap in front of the console, where they all survived and Billy became the Blue Zeo Ranger.

"See?" Billy said in bitter triumph.

Sky nodded. "I see, but continue to watch...."

And then at the first time they tried to form the Mega Zeo-Zord... the rangers spontaneously de-morphed and the zeozords began to break up. The Monster seized the opportunity and blasted the crumbling zords and the helpless team of rangers into fiery oblivion. Billy cried out involuntarily and then turned on Skye... "You are making this up!" he accused.

Skye shook his head "I have no power here... all that we see comes from your mind, based on your knowledge and conclusions. You will have to tell me why this disaster occurred."

Billy frowned. Flashes of colours burst around them reflecting his thoughts. Eventually he spoke slowly piecing the logic of the vision together.

."The anti-protons--everyone got a partial dose, not just me absorbing the full amount--not enough to prevent us from assuming the Zeo Ranger powers but enough to make them unstable when they were stretched to their full capacity and overload the Zeocrystal, it burst apart under the energy fluctuations." he seemed astonished at the fact.

"So you saved them... and yourself by absorbing all the antiprotons and sacrificing your chance at being a ranger!" Skye pointed out triumphantly. Thank anything and everything there had been some benefit to that selfless action. That should boost his self-esteem.

"I didn't know... I just... one of the others would have done the same!" Billy said uncertainly.

"No they wouldn't" Skye replied swiftly, "Not out of lack of courage, but through lack of knowledge. _You_ knew that the Morphing console was dangerous, they did not. They would not have stopped it. You did."

Billy's face had brightened. "I feel better knowing that there was a purpose, but I still feel the sacrifice, I have no powers... and it hurts to be alone!"

They were suddenly plunged into darkness... but out of the moving shadows a familiar shape prowled. The blue tinged wolf with glowing eyes who stared at him reproachfully.

__

I have never left you, do not turn from me... soon, soon... all still there and more to come... it wolfspoke before melting await like a morning mist.

Billy shook his head. "I am not a Ranger though, not part of the team...."

Skye interrupted "Are you so sure? You have dormant power, you are a genius....there are ways and means its a question of finding them and using them. Maybe you will or maybe you won't find a way, but you seem to have denied yourself a choice! You have locked yourself away from fear of finding out that it can't be done so you can live with the possibility that it might be possible.. Same with your friends... you are so concerned that they will say 'he is no longer one of us' you have made it happen... but as much as you have your friends have neglected you you have pushed them away. " He paused for breath and then asked a crucial question.

"Why?"

The environment shifted... a car driving on a sunny day.... Billy pushed his hand to his head...

"No!"

..they flickered... a young bullied child....the car....Angel Grove High... the car... his father weeping... the car... his mother... the car..They were close, that was the key. In that image lay the heart of the loneliness and the fear of hurt and loss that drove him to shut himself away.

"Your mother Billy... what happened to your mother?" Skye pushed. The crystal pulsed with light.

Again the car, his mother driving the car along a sunny street, coming to pick his father and himself up from shopping, not fast because she saw them both standing outside the store and slowed down to wave smiling. She turned back to pull up at the intersection. The lights had turned red... but then... an out of control car that ploughed into it from behind and with a sound that defied description pushed it in the path of the thundering lorry speeding through the lights. The car was crushed, instantly, his father had pulled him into his tight embrace but not fast enough... not fast enough for him to miss the sight of the wreck exploding in a peculiarly pathetic explosion....

Billy was shaking, pale with shock.

"She was killed... a car accident. She _left_ me, and I could do nothing about it, Nothing! I stood there and watched and for all my 'gifts' there was absolutely nothing I could do! She was killed and left me alone!"

Guilt washed over them both in a suffocating wave. Billy dropped to his knees

"I failed her, I _failed._ I can succeed at anything else but it means nothing because I failed then!"

This was it then, the centre of darkness, the despair that he carried around with him all the time, around which he had shaped his life. Why he remained isolated and why, despite his brilliance, he had this self-esteem problem... because deep down he regarded himself as a failure. But the only person who could tell him that there was nothing that he could have done and he would believe it was dead. Oh dear.

"Billy you did not fail your mother, just as she did not mean to leave you when she was killed." Skye said desperately as he sensed where this friends train of thought was taking him. Billy stood locked in a thought and the darkness became choking and deadly around them.

"The only person who can tell me the answers is dead" he said softly. He turned suddenly to his friend. "I understand how this works now... you have to answer or do what I say here." he stated.

Skye's expression became horrified ."No Billy... don't ask me to do that... please...."

"It is either that or we both die anyway," Billy said calmly "I cannot leave this place without answers. You know that."

Skye looked at him, caught by his own cleverness, but then how was he to know that Billy's problem stemmed from a death?

__

By asking one of the others, one of his friends you idiot! Jason would have known, or Adam! he berated himself. Chalk another big point up for the benefit of hindsight.

The two looked at each other for a moment and Skye sighed and nodded slightly, seeing no other way out and then Billy said, "Skye I must see my mother again... make this possible!".

With a gasp Skye felt the Star Crystal flare and giving in to his intuition with a mighty effort reached out to somewhere... and created a bridge to wherever would bring him what he needed, trusting that his instincts would guide him. Abruptly a bright light dazzled them both and a silhouetted figure stepped forward from its heart.

* * *

Dulcea had watched in growing horror at the unfolding drama in the Sacred Heart of the Temple. She had struggled against her instinct to interfere, but her Ninjetti promise prevented her from initiating action, and her animal spirit.

__

Owls are Watchers as well as Warriors, it had told her in its feather soft tones _We see the Dark, the Light and all the Secrets in between. This is why you were Chosen. Do not fail your duty from impatience._ And then after the savage beating she had wondered again whether to intervene, but following that intervention from her Power Animal she could not... she was glad she hadn't as they were now locked in a trance state, but they had been there for so long! And then the Star Crystal on Skye's chest had flared with light and the apparition of a woman appeared next to them and stepped into the light surrounding them. Wonder upon wonder.

As she debated what to do she sensed the presence of another on the planet, a non-Ninjetti but glowing Power colours of Gold and fiery Red to her trained mind.

* * *

She found Jason trying to run up the rough rocks to the Temple. She strangely felt compelled to observe him rather than issue the Challenge.

"Dulcea, I am Jason the Gold Ranger!" Jason called out, as he reached the edge of the Temple rather desperately. "I'm looking for Billy... and Skye."

The Master Warrior of the Ninjetti hesitated before revealing herself. There was something about this one... Something that spoke to her deep inside. She felt a familiar Animal Spirit echo, that she sometimes felt from the strong ones before they 'discovered' their spirits. The truth was the spirits 'discovered' them, and this one, he would have the spirit of a very familiar one to her, if he ever quested for the Great Power. Her Owl Spirit trilled in wistful recognition, and she decided enough was enough,

"They are here" she admitted stepping out from the shadows.

Jason looked relieved. "Thank God! I've been trying to persuade Zordon and Alpha to tell me where they went for hours... but Zordon is hardly saying two words to anyone. I finally decided... well actually it was Adam who mentioned that he might have come here. Where is Billy?" he asked eagerly.

Dulcea shook her head. "I cannot let you see him." she said firmly.

"Why not? If Billy is in trouble then I want to help! I know Phaedos is a dangerous place... Billy told me all about it and his Wolf-spirit. I've got help him! He's one of my oldest and best friends!" Jason said, worry tingeing his voice.

Dulcea was about to answer when she stiffened, turning her head over towards the dark woods. She sighed deeply and regretfully, she sensed a presence approaching that could only mean one thing.

"It is too late Jason."

Then Gold Ranger looked panicked "What's wrong? What's happened to Billy?!" he demanded, instantly realizing it was to do with his friend.

With that they both heard a scream of anguish and loss that brought tears to the eyes and a cold feeling of dread to the stomach and then suddenly out of the darkness a wolf, nimbus tinged blue and curiously insubstantial appeared and loped over towards the direction of the scream.

"No! Not Billy's wolf spirit! but doesn't that mean...?" Jason trailed off his voice trembling.

Dulcea stepped forward and with great sympathy said, "Go back now Gold Ranger... please.".

Jason choked back his emotions and tried to run after the wolf but Dulcea thwarted him easily.

"Teleport home now Jason" she said sadly "They need you." and she summoned the Ninjetti energy to transport him back to Earth.

Jason vanished in a stream of golden light as Dulcea sighed again. It seemed Skye's effort had failed. The Dark, the Light and all the Secrets in between... there were not many who could face them within themselves and survive. It had been a desperate hope at best. She had felt close to the Wolf Ninjetti, it had been a long time since a Blue Wolf had walked the Path of the Ninjetti and they rarely found their way as young as this one, but that was a matter of the past with the DeathSummons already in motion. Now she turned to await the arrival of Skye's animal spirit. The spirits came near death and if Billy stood on the threshold then so did the Ninjetti who was not Ninjetti.... She sensed its approach. She looked up and the stars in the night sky became occluded and she was for the first time in a millennia, rendered speechless.

"By all the Powers!" she managed before silence covered the Temple.

* * *

Out of the Star bright light Billy's mother stepped forward. Billy's face was transfigured by joy and hope. With an inarticulate cry he threw himself into her arms into an embrace that seemed eternal. His mother began to speak softly to him.

"Billy I'm so proud of you, of what you have done, everything you've achieved, what a man you have become!"

"But I let you down... I should have found a way to stop you getting killed!" Billy sobbed.

"You were only ten Billy... William love, it happened, it was an accident, God knows that I didn't want to die and leave you to grow without me" Billy's mother said her face a tragic mask of could have beens, should have beens and regret.

Billy spoke softly in a small voice, looking away from her "I was angry with you... for dying and leaving me alone."

She smiled " I understand. I was angry with myself. But some events cannot be changed. You forgive me?" she asked, her eyes deep amethyst with suppressed hope and guilt.

"Yes oh yes!" Billy replied fervently without even having to think about it.

"I know you were angry, but you have never been truly alone--I will always be with you as I have been" she grinned suddenly "if you need me I'll be there as surely as... "

"E equals emm cee squared!" Billy capped the private joke with the answering phrase and laughed.

"In time you may sense me when I am with you--you will never be alone--and you have good friends Billy."

Billy looked away "But they hurt me." he said coldly.

His mother touched his cheek "Yes, and they may do so again and you may hurt them," then her voice became intense, "but Billy if you do not open yourself to vulnerability and have the strength to give then you are not open to love, and not being able to love is the worst pain of all! Only you can solve the problems you have with your friends, some may support you, help you but ultimately the understanding comes from you that heals the wounds. Taking responsibility for your emotions is as important as taking responsibility for your actions, more so. They cannot _make_ you feel a certain way unless you let them. If there is one thing you can change in life it is yourself!"

Billy's mother smiled at him tenderly. "You are the Wolf, Billy, in your heart, and the Wolf is teacher, heeler, thinker, warrior, seer, magician and Pathfinder rolled into one. A wolf gives of himself selflessly to his pack and his family, in his thoughts, his hearts and his deeds. To shut yourself way from your friends is to deny your nature. Your mind sets you apart, and always will but your strength is from who you are not what you can do. Adapt and learn my son, do not limit yourself by conceptions of what you think you are. Trust your friends, add your strength to theirs and there is nothing that you cannot do!"

She kissed him gently and then whispered "You can do anything my son,"

The Light flickered dimming.

She stepped back "I must go" she said regretfully and drew away from them.

"Nooooooooooo!" screamed Billy in anguish "I will not lose you again!" he rushed after her into the light

"Billy No!" Skye gasped but held by his bond to him was dragged into the light after them. It was like standing in the heart of a storm.

Stop Billy," his mother said in alarm "It is not time for you to die... or for your friend. You may not pass the gateway yet, you have so much left to do dearest"

Billy stubbornly clung to her but finally let go when she said, "Your father needs you."

She looked wistful. "Tell him to remember the night of stars on the hill and say I have kept my promise and that he should keep his. He will know what I mean." she sighed and caressed her sons face once more with a lingering touch.

"Goodbye for now my son."

Billy looked deeply into her brilliant blue eyes and said "Love you... " in a choked voice.

"Love you too Billy." she smiled.

She then embraced a now exhausted Skye and said "Thank you... I know how hard this was... and you have given us both a great gift. I am glad you are the friend of my son...." She kissed him on the forehead and then stepped back again.

"Step back from the brink of death" Billy's mother said.

They obeyed mutely.

"All my love to you..."

"...and mine to you" Billy replied his eyes streaming tears.

"Be well my son" she whispered as she faded into the light

Billy reached out as the darkness returned and then sighed and said

"Time to go." and with a shuddering sigh Skye let the bond between them collapse.

* * *

Billy opened his eyes to dawn on Phaedos, a golden burst of light spilling over the plateau like liquid fire. Momentarily he wondered what he was doing there before his memories crashed down upon him. He looked down to see the beaten figure of Skye next showing the results of his uncontrolled fear and was overwhelmed by horror at what he had done. In a cold panic he checked for a pulse and then cradled Skyes unconscious form muttering, "Oh God! Oh God! I'm sorry! Oh God! Skye please!" and he sobbed then in a cathartic remorse as the new dawn spread it's golden light over Phaedos.

* * *

When Skye awoke later, he was aware that he was in a fair amount of pain and that he was at least able to move, if a little gingerly. In fact his arms were bandaged. with a strange looking cloth and all in all things could have been a lot worse and more painful.

"You are awake then."

It was Dulcea approaching with a small bowl of some pungent paste in her hands. She stripped off his shirt without even asking him taking him somewhat by surprise. "Hold still--this will numb the pain and speed the healing considerably." Dulcea informed him clinically.

"Billy?" he asked in between brief gasps as it stung as the Ninjetti warrior efficiently slathered on the salve. "Did it work?" Skye asked ignoring the process.

Dulcea nodded apparently absorbed by her task "Though he is wracked with guilt over what he has done to you... you took a big chance, he might well have killed you."

"But he didn't" Skye replied.

Dulcea looked uncomfortable. "You both were very close to death" she said avoiding his gaze.

Skye suddenly looked up at her sharply. "It came? You saw it?" he questioned with sudden interest.

"Yes... not long after Billy's Wolf spirit. But you know that it has no visible form" Dulcea lapsed into silence and appeared awed and apprehensive. Skye sighed in mild disappointment.

"I apologize for doubting you... it spoke to me." Her eyes glittered with the memory. "It said that your lesson of fear has been learnt and that you have broken the grip of it on your spirit. You have proven yourself to yourself."

Skyes face lit up with astonishment. "My God! Of course! I thought because of what had happened, because of my past... well I always had this fear that I would not be able to willingly place myself into danger for another, and now I have broken that fear!" He looked pleased.

"There are lessons within lessons, Skye of Earth, even I was taught a lesson of wonder... the appearance of the One that is not named is a cause for astonishment." Dulcea said. "It was put into my mind that you are the one to look into the Mysteries of the Ninjetti. This will be arranged."

"I would like that...." Skye replied his eyes bright with anticipation.

There was a movement over to his right, and Skye gingerly turned to see Billy lurking at the edges of the Sacred Heart of the Temple. His head aching... the white-haired artist reached out with his mind and grinned with relief when he touched the brilliant star blue colours of Billy's in control-again mind.

"Billy!" he exclaimed in relief and joy at seeing his friend whole again, there were still mental wounds yes, but the fragments of himself that had been lost now appeared to be present and in time would bind themselves to the others.

Billy shook his head in disbelief unable to meet his gaze. "How can you bear to look at me after what I did to you?" he asked his voice rich with self-loathing.

Skye sighed. This was something that had to be stopped now before all the good that had come out of this....experience was lost in a morass of self-condemnation. "How could I not be pleased when you are safe and well again?" he said forcefully.

He reached out to take his friends hand only to have Billy recoil from him as if he was going to touch him with white hot fire. Skye looked hurt and then glanced at Dulcea who was observing their reunion with an impassive look.

__

Not one miracle is ever enough, star crystal Ninjetti... her voice sounded in his head. _Miracle upon miracle is the rule of the spirit for its very existence is miraculous._

He sent a thought of affirmation to her. He looked at Billy "You're not going to believe me are you? " he stated "But I cannot lie in my mind my friend, if you can face the truth... then you know what to do."

Billy hesitated and then reached for the fragment of Sionas crystal he had from the previous night. Suddenly he felt the warm forgiving presence of Skye in his mind, who in turn let him see into his mind.

There was no denying the fear the pain that his friend had experienced, he wasn't trying to hide it at all. And in some ways, that convinced Billy of the genuine truth behind Skye's joy and forgiveness when he saw his mind whole and knew him to be healed once more. His mind radiated wonder at that fact, turning it this way and that to try and make it fit.

__

Soul-brother, Skye mindspoke to him, _Why is this a mystery to you? Would you not take an injury for another to save them pain? Have you not already done so time and time again? Do you blame them for the pain that you experience as a result?_

No... but... that....

This is no different Billy, Skye reassured. _It was a willing sacrifice and requires no forgiveness, you saved my life on Sionas, you literally jumped through fire to save me and you barely knew me. So when I got a chance to help you I was going to take it. Sometimes even the giver has to receive. Do you believe me?_

I believe that you do not hate me... but still I am not sure that I could do such a thing, Billy said. He hesitated.

"You would still called me friend?" he asked aloud tentatively

Skye smiled "My friend!" he said triumphantly and Billy's answering smile was accompanied by a careful hug.

"Ow... steady! What happened to my shirt?" Skye asked suddenly aware that it had disappeared completely

"Here" Billy pulled off his top, leaving him clad only in a t-shirt and gave it to him. "Take this."

"Thanks" Skye nodded and with a little help from Dulcea rather painfully pulled it on.

"One thing I will say... " Billy began in solemn tones, and Skye braced himself for a meaningful speech.

"Yes Billy?" the artist prompted.

"I regret to inform you that the medicinal compound currently assisting your recovery, is exceptionally malodorous and I may have to forfeit your company if you do not rectify the situation." Billy informed him with a deadpan expression.

"What?!"

"That salve _reeks,_ and if you intend to use it on a regular basis, you are on your own!!" Billy translated with a wicked gleam in his blue eyes.

Skye start laughing helplessly and Billy joined in, letting go of the last of the tension between them.

"Dear God I've created a monster... !" Skye wheezed, catching his breath.

"No I'll leave that to Mondo and the Space Villains...." Billy replied grinning "Hey... Good name for a band huh?" That resulted in fresh hilarity.

Dulcea also smiled as she regard the two laughing Ninjetti.

"This is good. But I must tell you that the Gold Ranger came looking for you Billy, at a most inopportune time, at the point when your wolf spirit appeared, and the apparition of the woman...."

They calmed down rapidly. Billy was frankly amazed "You saw my mother?" he asked incredulously. She nodded.

Then Billy groaned. "We must get back! Jason will think I am dead, I told him about the DeathSummons! and when he saw the Wolf he must have believed....Especially as they haven't heard from us!"

"I had to send him back," Dulcea said with a hint of emotion in her voice "I sensed he was needed, though he tried to stay despite my orders....he has a noble spirit, worthy of a Ninjetti."

Billy nodded agreeing "We better return, they may need our help," he said concerned.

Skye marveled privately at how swiftly Billy turned his focus to the well-being of his friends after such a personally traumatic experience. They turned to Dulcea and bowed with respect.

"Thank you for everything Dulcea" Billy thanked her sincerely and tuned his teleporter to draw on Ninjetti Power to get them both back to earth.

He turned to give Skye back the Sionas crystal but the artist shook his head

"it is yours now, tuned to you... and I may have an idea on how to use it when we get back... keep it!" Skye then turned to Dulcea as they were about to leave touched the star crystal and said "Thank you... Shihana Dulcea-vai, lejana kai.."

"Rokan-sar vai...." Dulcea responded automatically in the ancient language of the Ninjetti as the two vanished in column of teleportation light.

Dulcea stood staring after them and then muttered to herself, "Zordon of Eltare if this is what I think it is....then you have some serious explaining to do!"

* * *

They materialized in the centre of the Power Chamber after the long delay of interplanetary teleportation.

"Billy!" Zordon sounded happy to see him--and if he was happy then Alpha was nigh on ecstatic. The little droid didn't know if he were coming or going! Billy laughed.

"Calm down Alpha! I'm fine! Really!"

"Billy I am pleased to see you" the Eltarian said with genuine emotion in his voice.

"Same here Zordon." Billy replied somewhat taken by surprise.

Alpha rushed up clasping a report "Billy the Rangers need your help. They are struggling against Mondo's latest monster, and with Pyramidis and Red Battlezord out of action and Adam has been crystallized, the Zeozords are taking heavy damage! Ayeyieyie!"

Billy looked very worried. "What happened? where is Adam? is he okay?"

"He is in the lab" Zordon replied. "He became very... distracted after Jason returned from Phaedos, and fell victim to the Crystallinator."

"And the others?"

"Fighting as we speak," Alpha contributed.

Billy frowned. "Too much to do too little time." he muttered and then startled as Skye tapped his shoulder for attention.

"I might have an idea on how to help..." he said "Take your tuned crystal and put it next to your skin, so you can use your hands and I'll do the rest."

Billy did so, slightly intrigued. Skye focused his will through the Star crystal and linked mind to mind in the deep rapport with Billy, joining their resources on a subconscious level. The ex-ranger felt an odd tingle and then a slight feeling of vertigo and then Skye looked up.

"Done" he said...

Billy looked around feeling slightly odd.

"What needs doing?" Skye asked.

"I need to analyze Alpha's data help Adam, look at the Zords...." as Billy listed tasks he suddenly became aware that it was being assimilated decided and tasks assigned on a subliminal level between the two of them. Billy looked at the data whilst seemingly at the same time examining Adam and trying resonant frequencies matches on the encasing crystal. Except it was Skye's body with Adam. And he was quicker than usual in processing data and it helped for Skye to bringing him items as the thoughts entered his head to construct a new device. It was literally like having a second pair of hands. _Skye,_ he mindspoke realizing they were communicating that way through the crystal. _What have you done here?_

Skye's mental voice chuckled though Billy could sense the tiredness and the edges of pain from him

__

I have done the equivalent of giving your brain a memory upgrade of sorts... you use my resources I draw on yours... our minds work in rapport so deep that I just know what to do I don't have to ask what to do, the skill, expertise to accomplish these tasks is in our mind. That's the theory anyway... Never done this before, Skye explained.

__

Why not? Billy asked curious as he adjusted another device

__

I have never established a mindlink as deep as I had to with you on Phaedos... otherwise I would be asking not doing. In response to a delicate thought from Billy, Skye handed him a tool of which he didn't even know the name let alone the function.

"Resonance scans back on Adam," he said aloud and the information flowed between their minds lightning fast and Skye took the modified sonic projector Billy had been working on and began to test within the band frequency identified.

Billy finished the Sonic weapon and "heard" the frequency match when Skye discovered it on Adam's encasing crystal. Deftly he teleported the device to mesh with zeozord battle helmet 1. Stats flashed up on the console. Pyramidas was out of action due to a simple dimorphic crossfeed. That could be fixed in no time. The Red Battlezord needed a left stabilizer adjusted and then it would be battle worthy. In moments he was at Pyramidas and Skye was at Red Battlezord and it was done! and so quickly!

"Done! Alpha... send down Red Battlezord and Pyramidas to buy the Zeozord time to recover a little and then send Zeo battle helmet one down." He smiled, pleased.

"Well done Billy!" he heard Zordon say, but what he felt was Zordon's emotions of pride and affection for him much to his surprise.

__

Naturally, Skye mindspoke. _You are tapping into my abilities, as I tap into yours._

Does he really feel that way about me? Billy asked in awe

__

Apparently so, Skye replied.

Billy smiled to himself. Well, well... Zordon a sentimental fool.

"Billy... Adam's crystallization is breaking down!" Skye announced.

"I'm coming" Billy said hurrying in.

Billy took the sonic resonator and tweaked it a little... this would work! How many time had a battle come down to his ability to restore a ranger? more importantly... to restore a friend? It was one of his secret fears that one day he would not be able to reverse the process. He had experienced recurring nightmares to that effect for a long long time. As he looked at Adam encased in shimmering crystal he was reminded irrestitably of the first picture Skye had done after meeting them both, of a Frog mid leap frozen in crystal. He shivered. Had that been some sort of premonition? Or was this a sign of something else? He could not shake the feeling that he was being shown more than a scientific problem to be solved, maybe something more....symbolic. Skye looked at him mirroring the concern in his eyes as suddenly the crystallization dissolve and collapsed completely. Adam in his demorphed state drew in a shuddering breath and began coughing violently.

"Easy there Adam" Billy said gently supporting his friend. At the sound of his voice, Adam snapped his eyes open in astonishment.

"Billy... _Billy?_ But Jason said...."

Billy through his still open link with Skye and the Star Crystal felt the almost overwhelming burst of hope and emotion as Adam saw him and swirling in his memory the despair that he had felt, that all of them had felt when Jason had reported back from Phaedos.

"I'm fine Adam, really," he said at a loss for words.

Skye slipped a thought into his mind _I'll check on the battle,_ he excused himself and melted away sensing the happiness in the two friends minds.

Skye stepped into the Power Chamber and stumbled feeling weak and shaky. The mindlink did drain his energy more than he was letting on. Especially on top of his injuries which despite Dulcea's miraculous (if stinky) salve were still making their presence felt....he couldn't lie but he could conceal parts of the truth in his mind. He sensed though that he had to hold the link open a little longer . If Billy could just for once feel that he wasn't alone and really know it to be true, it would make his problems with all the Rangers, not disappear, but certainly a lot easier to deal with. He steadied himself against the console

"Are you injured Skye?" Zordon asked concerned.

"Nothing serious Zordon" he admitted.

"I want to thank you for what you have done for Billy and the rest of the Rangers" Zordon said.

Skye nodded "S'okay Zordon" he replied tiredly feeling his strength draining away. "

"The Rangers are prevailing thanks to your timely assistance."

Suddenly there was a flash of gold light as Jason teleported in. The Gold Ranger look around to see Skye in front of him, wearing of all things Billy's jumper! Inflamed with grief and loss Jason lunged forward and grabbed Skye by the wrist.

"You! What did you do to Billy... answer me! You were there!"

Skye blanched with pain, rendered speechless by Jason's iron grip on his bandaged wrist. _Another stupid mistake_, he thought. We were so busy saving the day, that it slipped our minds to mention that Billy wasn't dead!

Billy in the adjoining room felt Skye's pain through their link and Jason's grief stricken presence. Dear Lord he had never realized how important he was to his old friend! He hastily ran to the Power Chamber.

"Jason!" he called out entering the room. "It's okay... I'm fine! Let him go...."

"Billy?" Jason gasped hope blossoming.

Billy smiled "The one and only..." he quipped.

Jason was astounded. Billy was alive for one... and smiling! He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his old friend smile so easily. He let go of Skye absently and stepped forward.

"I... I... thought when I saw the Wolf... I thought....I'd lost you bro... " he said his voice tight with emotion.

"I'm okay Jase, it was tough but I'm okay now" Billy replied soothingly.

Suddenly the chamber filled with multicolored beams of light as the other Rangers teleported in. They froze in astonishment at the sight of Billy and then the errant friend found himself mobbed by overjoyed friends. Skye watched from outside the group. Billy wore an inanely happy grin on his face. The weary artist kept the mindlink open so Billy could for once be aware of how much his friends cared for him and how much of their isolation had been misunderstanding. Skye smiled again weakly, feeling close to exhaustion.

"You okay?" asked a voice behind him.

Adam walked in unsteadily. Skye looked up in surprise. And nodded. "I'm fine" he said in stretching the definition of "fine" to the outer limits.

Adam's eyes flicked down and he observed the partly hidden bandages on the artists arms, and noted the lines of pain in his face. He could tell that wasn't the whole truth. As sensitive as he was to those around him Adam knew Skye had done something to help Billy, but what he couldn't begin to imagine.

"Hmmm" Adam commented, obviously this was not something that they were going to talk about just yet. Something had happened on Phaedos that he could tell. And he knew that Billy had lost it in the Juice Bar--he'd understood what Skye had said and he'd had a row with Tommy about it too. He'd never seen the others as shocked as when he'd laid into their leader.....and now... now Billy was smiling, he was more open even than he had been before, and it was something to do with Skye. Maybe he had been unfair to Billy's new friend. They hadn't exactly welcomed him with open arms, even though he knew their secret. There appeared to be something inside that screamed "not a ranger, not a ranger." that made them all inhibited when he was around. He felt a sudden chill inside. Was that what they had been doing to Billy? All this time?

"Well hey Skye... thanks for whatever you did... I know it can't have been easy," he said resolving to make more of an effort to get to know the artist in the future.

"Thanks Adam," Skye said looking surprised and swayed a little and Adam steadied him. Billy looked up as if called.

"Hey guys... I think I better go home... my dad will be concerned about me.." he said. They nodded understanding.

"Skye?" Billy asked. The white haired artist nodded and Billy said goodbye and the two teleported out.

* * *

Later at the Juice Bar, the Rangers were having an informal discussion. Tommy, like the others, had been distraught when Jason had reported Billy's death--partly because he felt it to be his fault. He was responsible for them all, if something happened to any of them it was basically his fault there was no denying it, whatever anyone else told him. Adam had been right to dress him down. But now questions began to arise.

"Did you notice," he said softly "that we never actually got an answer to what happened?"

Kat agreed "Yeah--when he left he was strung out and now he's... well I've never seen Billy like this before...." she said leaning forward conspiratorially.

"I have," both Jason and Tommy spoke up together. Meeting each others gaze the same thought went through their minds. Trini.

"I find it strange that Dulcea wouldn't let me pass," Jason commented "I saw the wolf, and heard the... scream... it was bad!"

"Look" Adam said firmly, "they will tell us when they are ready, though I agree, something happened on Phaedos, and it was no joyride for either of them."

"Yes" said Tommy thoughtfully. It occurred to him that he had underestimated the artists abilities. But he just couldn't bring himself to feel comfortable with someone who might be able to reach into his mind at any moment. Half the time he wasn't comfortable with himself, let alone with someone else.

"It seems to me that Skye had a lot to do with this, something for which we should be grateful" Tanya chipped in.

"We will find out eventually I'm sure" Rocky said.

Jason looked deep in thought, and got up slowly. "I'll catch up with you guys later." he said before walking out briskly.

* * *

Skye's knees buckled as they landed at Billy's house. the link snapped and Billy caught him under the arms as he began to slip gently towards unconsciousness.

"You're staying here!" he ordered concerned "Dad will be so pleased I have a friend to stay that he won't mind."

"I....won't object too much" Skye replied dizzy and disorientated.

"I'm not letting you go back to be alone, not in this state, especially not to that pit you call your apartment." Billy looked around "He's at work... good. I'll phone him and he can yell at me over the phone... I'll say I went on a retreat and forgot to tell him or something... he'll buy it." He hauled Skye up to the guestroom and introduced him to the spare bedroom.

"You should have told me how much the link drained you, and how weak you were" he rebuked concerned "You didn't need to keep the link open all the time."

Skye shook his head "most important time of all" was all he said.

Billy nodded in gratitude. It was one thing to hope you were cared for by your friends and quite another to feel and know it!

"Will be easier next time" the star crystal Ninjetti said wryly, lying down on the bed.

"Next time ?" Billy queried

"Of course" Skye said yawning uncontrollably "You need help in the Power Chamber... I have free time and I'd like to be involved... I'll help you as much as I can. Maybe then the others may accept me... a little... more.." Skye's gray blue eyes closed and whilst Billy stood there absorbing this information he drifted into a deep sleep.

Billy stepped back "Thank you my friend " he said quietly "Thank you for everything." he said before leaving the room.

* * *

He found Jason watching him from the bottom of the stairs. "Skye staying here?" Jason said. There was something in his old friends eyes that told Billy Jason had something to get off his chest. The way he clenched his jaw as if trying to hold back words.

"Yes... he's pretty exhausted" Billy said, and purposefully did not volunteer anymore information.

Jason was mentally trying to find a way to start things rolling, but felt oddly discomfited by Billy's attentive gaze and all he could manage was to blurt out, "You okay?"

"Pretty close to it now." Billy said after careful consideration and for once truthfully.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the suddenly fascinating carpet. Billy couldn't stand it anymore.

"What is on your mind Jase?"

"I... I... came to say... I'm sorry. Really sorry...." Jason held up a hand to stop Billy's protestations. "I feel like ever since I came back, I shattered your hope of becoming a ranger... and I just couldn't bear to see that in your face every time I saw you. So I guess.....I didn't see as much of you as I should, considering how close we were as part of the original team. Call it a guilty conscience or whatever it is still no excuse. I know something happened on Phaedos, and I should have been there for you... but I hope you'll have my apology for that"

Billy nodded astonished. Though he was be no means ready to share what had happened at the Temple of the Ninjetti with them all he could not let his oldest friend torment himself with guilt.

"Jason, it wasn't just to do with you and the others, it was something far deeper to do with me." He reassured his friend "Whilst there is still plenty still to deal with and everything is not "magically" fine...." he struggled to find the words that might tell his friend how profoundly things had changed within himself.

"I have been taught how to laugh again."

He saw the Gold Ranger's eyes widen in understanding and knew that he had remembered the harrowing day when a distraught 10 year old boy had vowed to his friend that he would never laugh or be happy again, as they stood together by his mothers fresh grave. And though in time that vow had faded, and some measure of happiness had crept back into his life, it had always seemed that his capacity for joy had been... wounded in such a way, that neither of them had thought it possible he would ever experience it to its fullest.

Jason swallowed feeling his throat tighten with emotion. "That is good." was all he could manage and Billy let him off the hook by offering him something to eat, and taking him through to the kitchen.

* * *

In the Power Chamber, for once empty of even Billy, Zordon contemplated the recent events and as he did so became aware of a presence manifesting before him. A ghostly apparition of an Owl swooped around his column before hovering mid air before him.

"So...." Dulcea's voice whispered "When exactly were you going to tell me?". An image of her face shimmered into view and her expression was severe.

"There are still many things uncertain, Dulcea." Zordon said calmly.

"Like what?" The Master Warrior said angrily "The Star Crystal has been claimed and you didn't think to share that with any of the Wise? Zordon you maybe the greatest Magician of us all but this is no time for secrets. "

"I am not going to assume the worst at this stage" Zordon rebuked "Yes the Star Crystal has surfaced, but there is no indication that it is NOW that things happen. We will all know when that is.... if it happens!."

"Even when the Nameless one visits Phaedos?" Dulcea informed him gravely "Can you remember when that last happened?"

Zordon was silent a moment. "I have heard tell of the event in the distant past."

"And your current Chosen? When have you ever had a group exposed to such a variety of aspects of the Power?" She turned and sensed around and looked alarmed "You didn't! You harnessed the Zeo Crystal to their morphing....but it was never meant to be used that way... and a human holding the Gold Powers....how by all the spirits he is holding himself together I will never know!"

"I am aware of the problems" Zordon said uncomfortably.

"I do not doubt your care or your wisdom, but do not hide from the truth by masking it in logic." Dulcea warned. "You don't want it to be them do you?" She suddenly realized, her green eyes gleaming.

"They are so young... "Zordon said softly.

"And we are so old" Dulcea said brusquely "Age has nothing to do with it. Spirit does. Zordon of Eltare, if you do not help them in learning the lessons they need to learn, then the Great Power will find a way to teach them in spite of you. If they are the ones then they will be taught by experience, which is a far harsher master. The maturity of the spirit is measured in terms of experience, and I think one of your Chosen has grown up a great deal in the past night."

"You are wise Dulcea" Zordon said.

"I am the Owl, Warrior and Watcher." Dulcea said "And Zordon, I will be Watching you and yours from now on. So will Dimitria, Alesto, C'Haal, Rhahamadra and the others of the Wise, for it is _wise_ to prepare for the coming of Darkness when there is still Light to see." With that the projected spirit form of the Ninjetti Master Warrior shifted back into her owl-form and took flight before fading away.

And with that message, however much he would have liked to do so, Zordon of Eltare could not disagree.

### End

   [1]: mailto:dunger@globalnet.co.uk



	3. Spirit Warrior

**__**

Disclaimer: Surprisingly enough I still don't own the Power Rangers, but anything you don't recognize belongs to me. This is the third in The Sun Goes Down series, so if you haven't read Questing Wolf or Wolf in Darkness you might be a bit lost. Hope you all enjoy it!

### Spirit Warrior  
by Peregrine

Rocky DeSantos walked into the Juice Bar in a desultory manner. Surprise, surprise, he was alone again. It wasn't like the other Rangers were ignoring him, but it suddenly seemed as if they didn't have time for him at the moment and well....he sighed. Not that he was sorry that Billy was happier than he had been in a long time, but it just seemed that he hardly saw Adam at the moment, or the others as they always seemed to be going out and doing something. This morning was a case in point ; Tommy and Jason were off training, Billy and Adam had gone to the Power Chamber to look at the latest gadget and Tanya and Kat had gone with Skye Brannon, their latest "makeover project" to the Mall. Apparently for an artist he was an incredible fashion victim and desperately in need of their services. He had hardly seen his friends outside of a battle, and as they had been having a comparatively quiet time as regards Mondo's activities of late, in the past few days that had been not at all.

"All right Rocky?" a voice called out. Rocky frowned a little before turning. Skye had obviously made good his escape from the girls. He wasn't exactly comfortable around the Star Crystal Ninjetti, though Skye had been pleasant enough on the few occasions they had spoken. It just seemed to him that it was very unlikely that he would have much in common with an artist.

"Fine" he said perfunctorily turning back to the bar. The scowl on his usually jovial features belied his answer. Skye limped over undeterred.

"Mind if I join you?" the artist asked. Rocky shrugged.

Skye looked at him appraisingly "Say, I'll treat you....I'll just get us both something."

Rocky sat down. He wasn't sure if he would have preferred to be alone or not, but he couldn't be rude. Tactless maybe, but impolite never...he grinned softly to himself. And company was company after all.

With a clatter of a spoon and dish a heaped bowl was dumped in front of him.

"Ernie's Chocolate special!" he exclaimed in surprise, digging in "How did you know?".

Skye grinned "A side-effect of my mysterious powers...the uncanny ability to sense the need for ice-cream!" he chuckled sipping his own drink.

Rocky smiled with a mouthful of ice-cream, unsure if he was being serious or not. Truth was, this whole business of being able to pick up thoughts and emotions was enough to make him very uneasy. There were a few thoughts he would much rather keep to himself. Not to mention a few emotions too. The combination of which would probably cause a huge amount of problems, so it was best that they stayed hidden as they had done up until now. He couldn't deny that Billy seem much happier for knowing Skye, but when it came down to it, they didn't really know what had happened on Phaedos. Best to stick to ice-cream and be done with it, keep the topic on conversation on the chocolate chip level.

Skye sipped his drink "So..." he said casually "What's wrong?"

Rocky looked up at him automatically suspicious "You reading my mind?"

"No, Rocky I'm reading your face..." Skye said quietly, "You look like a wet weekend...that's just not you."

"Yeah, happy-go-lucky Rocky...I know" Rocky replied cynically. Skye just looked at him with a penetrating stare not saying a word. The Blue Ranger hated that. Whenever he had pushed the mark with Adam or Aisha all they had to do was go silent on him and watch him punish himself and finally confess to anything and everything just to get them to talk to him again. Finally he couldn't stand the silence.

"Look...it's stupid - selfish perhaps, but I'm feeling a little left out." he felt foolish now he had said it but there was no -"oh don't be so silly, or anything..." . Heartened he continued.

"Well...look at me, where are my friends? Adam is meant to be my best friend, Tommy and I used to spar all the time and now Jason is back...he doesn't have time for me. Adam is out with Billy or Tanya...Kat's with Tommy or out with Tanya...." he trailed off feeling sorry for himself. He knew he was indulging in self pity and how stupid it sounded, but it didn't stop him feeling the way he felt. He played with the melting ice-cream.

"So they have never asked you to go with them?" Skye questioned gently.

Rocky flushed. "Well...sometimes" he admitted.

"And you didn't go?" Skye asked innocently his gray blue eyes glinting with amusement.

"Well Billy is a genius, Adam is pretty smart and I'm, well I'm "good old Rocky"...Tommy has Kat, Adam has Tanya and I....have no-one like that." Rocky lapsed into silence, mentally kicking himself. That was one subject he did not want to be thinking about with a mind reader near to him. Skye looked at him sharply in that disconcerting manner that made you believe he was reading words scrolling across the inside of your head.

"Do you want me to tell you a few truths Rocky?" he asked finally.

Rocky shrugged. Truth - he was open as they came. Everyone knew what he was thinking. Usually very little, he added to himself sourly

"Rocky...you know you are not stupid, it is just easier to be regarded that way."

Stung Rocky looked up. He hadn't expected that. "What do you mean?"

"Your past friends, before Adam and Aisha, didn't like anyone too smart did they? So it was easier to play dumb and fit in...and now you feel trapped in that role, you've nearly convinced yourself!" Skye made his point forcefully. The Star crystal gleamed around his neck in response to his intensity.

"I..." Rocky stuttered in denial and then slumped. He could not believe that the artist had seen something he had managed to gloss over for years.

"But it is true!" he said. "What am I compared to them?"

Skye looked astonishingly very angry .

"Don't ever say that! You may not be a Billy type genius...but do we really need more than one? You have things to contribute that the others do not...they NEED you!"

Rocky shrugged again, not trusting himself to speak. He'd always felt that somehow there had been a mistake, that the Blue Ranger had to solve all the problems like Billy always did, and he just couldn't do that. It wasn't a natural part of him and he felt like he wasn't needed as the Blue Ranger, not like he had been as the Red. Though he couldn't bring himself to accept the artists words, he felt reassured nonetheless.

Skye continued. "Listen..." he said in a low voice. "You were chosen first by the Red to lead the Power Rangers which is an accolade in itself. But you have also been chosen by the Blue. For a while I have been trying to understand something that Dulcea told me on Phaedos about those chosen by the Blue. The Blue never selects those without intelligence and it strives to promote wisdom and learning, and to do that it demands sacrifice. You cannot learn without experience. Be glad that your primary color is Red, as from what I understand much is demanded of those that are of the Blue. It seems to test through life, whereas the Red tests through crisis and battle. This will affect you also, as it affects all those who take the Blue Power. There is one thing that you can take from this, you have that intelligence within you and that you are worthy, otherwise you would not be able to hold the Blue Powers, Zeo or otherwise."

Rocky sat stunned for a moment. No-one tended to discuss this sort of thing with him, yet he understood the whole feeling Skye was trying to convey. There was a completely different feel to being a blue ranger to be a red, although he had not been sure if it was the difference between morphin' power and Zeo power.

"I think I understand...but red I understand, it feels familiar to me...blue...I'm not entirely comfortable with" he trailed off. The reasons why were obvious really.

"You've never really forgiven yourself for being a Blue Zeo Ranger when you felt Billy should have been huh? That's the main reason you feel uncomfortable around him." identified Skye astutely.

Rocky stared. "I never said that!"

"You didn't have to" replied Skye . "But it is true yes?".

Rocky nodded mutely. "It is" he admitted. Some break this was turning out to be. Come in for an ice cream and end up reexamining your life!

"Billy needs friends, Rocky...how you have felt the last few weeks, he has felt like that for most of his life - and worse" Skye said. "All of you need each other...I can't explain why, but I feel it is important that the team is close, there can be no tensions or uneasiness. This will be vital in the future I feel it. You have a chance to mend that breach, to show everyone that they have underestimated you. Billy's birthday is in a couple of weeks, maybe you can think of something you might do to surprise him."

Rocky nodded and then smiled mischievously. Oh he had an idea all right! If he could pull it off. He felt much better and much to his surprise considerably at ease with the Star Ninjetti now.

"Thanks Skye" he said warmly. "That's why you are going round getting to know everyone huh?" he said slyly. He had the pleasure of seeing the artists eyes widen in surprise.

"I thought I was being subtle." he said a little shamefaced.

"Oh you are.....come in buy a guy a drink and turn his life inside out and put it back facing the right way, very subtle." Rocky said pulling his leg a little. "And don't think I didn't notice you getting on with Tanya and Kat. Every guy I know would run a mile before submitting to a Mall makeover willingly."

"Well and truly rumbled..." Skye confessed "But I meant it all....it's just very important. Besides I can't say they didn't make a difference." Rocky had to agree; shades of gray suited the artist especially with that bright white hair of his. It wasn't as if he need bright colors to make him stand out in a crowd.

"Well I owe you one. I needed a good kick to get me out of it." Rocky said finishing off his drink.

Skye slurped down the last of his smoothie and got up. " Tell you what...you could do me a favor too."

"Sure...what?"

Oddly the Star Crystal Ninjetti looked embarrassed. "This is stupid, and I know that I am not a ranger or whatever and never likely to be, but because I do hang out with you guys, I do seem to catch the front edge of the fights with the Cogs before ëporting away. "

He coughed a little. "You may have noticed, but I've had my butt kicked within....ooo average of ten seconds. It's frankly embarrassing. Part of it is to do with a legitimate excuse." he indicated his bad leg. "but realistically, I've seen you guys fight without full mobility many times and its basically the fact that when it comes to self-defense, a kitten could beat me up!"

"Sure yeah!" Rocky replied accepting the challenge eagerly "I've got to admit that basically...when it comes to fighting ....you...."

"Suck - big time?" supplied Skye succinctly.

"Well tact was never my thing." Rocky grinned "Okay you suck, and rumor has it you suck worse than Billy did when they first started."

Skye winced. "That bad huh? We better get started as soon as possible!"

"How about now? It's nice day...we go try in the park...where you won't be too much on show!" Rocky laughed as they walked outside into the sunshine.

* * *

Later it crossed Rocky's mind that Skye might have somehow known that Tommy and Jason might drop by although there was no logical foundation for that suspicion. The three rangers became embroiled in a discussion about how Skye could best counter the inherent weakness in his left side. They had got really involved until later in the afternoon Skye had had to cry off laughing in sheer exhaustion. Next thing he'd known, Tommy, Jason and himself had been trying out combinations on each other, sparring and comparing their different styles. It had turned into a really good afternoon and it had dawned on them at some point in the afternoon that they had all been Red Rangers which gave them an underlying bond of common experience.

Suddenly it seemed that half of his problem had been resolved just like that. His niggling jealousy about Tommy and Jason evaporated in the space of a couple of hours as he realized that his temporary exclusion had not been personal, just to do with two old friends catching up. He began to think seriously about Skye's other suggestions and what they had discussed.

* * *

Billy walked into his house with a grin on his face. Skye was in the kitchen making coffee and threw a can of soda to Billy as he came in the door. He caught it neatly.

"It's time's like this" he said, cracking open the can "That I am glad my Dad asked you to stay."

"My unspeakable good influence on you - you see, as well as my marvelous coffee making skills." Skye countered. "Just because I filter coffee for him the way he likes it...he won't let me leave the house!"

"Ah but you cheated, like you did with this ice cold can...." Billy said, his blue eyes sparkling with humor.

"Well okay I admit it, I sensed you walking up the road." Skye said and then yawned.

Billy looked at him closely. He did look a bit tired. "You okay?" he asked concerned.

"Not enough sleep, and too much ninja tuition from Rocky. Finally got tired of having the living daylights trashed out of me before I can yell for help. Mind you it did result in a new nickname for me, "Snowball" - apparently that's the type of chance I have in a fight at the moment." Skye replied quirking a smile.

"Those dreams again?" Billy asked not to be put off though he grinned. That had to be one of Rocky's. A snowballs chance in hell, he knew how that went!.

Skye nodded slowly. "When isn't it? Sometimes I feel I do more work in my sleep than I do when I'm awake." His dreams were getting worse and more and more frequent. He was spending a lot of time awake now, a lot more than ever before.

Billy laughed and let the subject drop. "Well you'll be pleased to hear that I finished off the Zord Maintenance Droids this morning - I really don't know why I didn't think of it before!"

Skye had suggested that instead of fixing every little thing that he create something to fix the basic things and deal with the more important problems himself. Surprisingly the Zord Maintenance droid had not been that difficult to design once he had realized that to get them to work on their own initiative all he had to do was to transplant a modified matrix from Alpha's neuronet. Hopefully they would be able to undertake complex repair tasks on their own initiative.

Skye quirked an eyebrow "You didn't want the free time then." he said. Billy nodded soberly. All too true.

"Before I forget.." Skye began. "You have to meet your father after work."

"I do?" Billy said surprised. First he'd heard about it.

"Yes...it's important."

Billy sighed. "If you say so."

Skye chuckled "My word Billy, a sentence composed entirely of monosyllables!"

Billy smiled "A suitably impressive demonstration of economic language, don't you think?" he replied in a mock pompous voice before they both started laughing.

* * *

Skye teleported himself to the Power Chamber, a lot easier with a communicator than doing it by psi power, much much easier! He didn't intend to psi-teleport ever again if he could help it. Once had been quite enough.

"Zordon, Alpha..." he greeted them both

"Greetings Skye, what can we do for you?" Zordon responded.

Skye paused trying to think how to broach the subject. "I think...I think I have to go back to Phaedos now. I thought it could wait a little longer but the dreams are getting more insistent."

Zordon considered the request. "It is a long journey that will require a significant drain of Power, are you sure?"

Skye hesitated, and then had an idea from one of the lessons Zordon had given him about projecting into anothers consciousness.

"Judge for yourself Zordon and tell me whether I am correct"

He touched the Star Crystal with his fingertips and focusing his dream images rather unceremoniously dumped the information into Zordon's mind.

Zordon appeared to process the information "This has recurred...how often?"

"Every night this week...several times a night...I think the Wolf is getting impatient and he is very adamant!" Skye said, which was an understatement. The Wolf had been pestering him continuously in his dreams and now seemed to flicker, lurking behind the edges of normal sight ready to attract his attention.

"I can tell - but the Wolf does have a tendency to get over focused sometimes." Zordon agreed dryly with a rare hint of humor. "Alpha, set co-ordinates for Phaedos. I will inform Dulcea that you are on your way."

"Thanks Zordon" Skye said gratefully before vanishing in a stream of silver-white light.

* * *

Billy reached the place where Skye said his father wanted to meet him, just as his father drew up in his car.

His father got out looking a little worried "You wanted to see me son?" he said concerned

"But I thought..." Billy began and then cursed silently. Damn it, Skye had set them up!

"Hold on a moment dad...just got to get something from the car! " Sure enough on the back seat of the Radbug there was a note and a bag of their favorite junk food. He scanned it briefly.

"I know, you can get me back for it later.. But you have a message to pass on to your father and an important promise to keep....here's some food to keep you going, so take your time. Good Luck!".

Billy pick up the bag thoughtfully, he did have a message to pass on, his father did have a right to know about what his mother's spirit had said on Phaedos, and certainly he had been patient in waiting for an explanation of the radical change in his son.

"It's just something I've been meaning to tell you for a while. Why don't we go and find a place to talk properly?" Billy suggested awkwardly.

Hank Cranston looked startled and then nodded. "Okay then son..lead the way."

* * *

Skye returned from Phaedos six hours later.

"How was your mission?" Zordon asked immediately. Skye smiled and unwrapped a shimmering crystal sphere that glittered in his hand crawling with a fiery energy.

"The Marai'sa " Zordon exclaimed.

"The Ancient Mysteries and Histories of the Ninjetti Dulcea said" Skye agreed carefully rewrapping the gleaming orb.

"I believe that it is the first time the Marai'sa has ever left Phaedos" Zordon said "It contains great knowledge."

"Hmm exactly. According to Dulcea in here lies the knowledge on how to make the content of my dreams a reality - plus that extra step that Billy was unable to supply in all his designing and hoping. It goes without saying that Dulcea is very interested in this project as well. She approved of this endeavor heartily" Skye finished, sneaking another peek at the orb, heavy and warm through the cloth. It had a strangely hypnotic appeal.

"It is then possible that we may turn this to a reality" Zordon said hopefully "Though it concerns me that the Ninjetti spirits were quite so adamant about the time involved. It is not wise to ignore such a warning. I will increase our security measures and monitoring."

"Thank you Zordon...and I believe that I will need a great deal of yours and Alpha's help to make Billy's daydream a reality before his birthday. This first one will be the most difficult, but once we align the energies it should be relatively straight forward."

"We will help as much as possible." Zordon said.

"But what about Billy?" inquired Alpha . "We have to keep this a secret so he does not get his hopes up if we are unable to make it happen."

Skye frowned "Good point...well fortunately the guys have organized a few things leading up to his birthday that will keep him occupied. I admit to having organized something for him tonight to prevent him from realizing where I had gone. I'll get it for that later I'm sure!" he grinned unrepentantly. "I will have to tell him I have a big project to complete, which isn't lying, he won't regard it as strange that I am not around so much." Skye said and then smiled with anticipation. "I can't wait to see his face when it actually works!"

* * *

"Billy's birthday tomorrow...is everything ready?" Tanya whispered hoarsely. Kat giggled at her friends attempt at subterfuge.

"You are not fooling anyone...anyway, Billy is in the Power Chamber, you don't have to speak in a whisper." she said speaking normally. "Anyway, it's all set. Tommy has arranged things with Ernie for a party tomorrow night haven't you Tommy?"

Tommy looked up, a puzzled frown on his face. "I was meant to do that?" he asked with a faint hint of panic in his voice.

Rocky slapped his head in amazement "Tommy, you've forgotten to book Ernie's?" he said shaking his head in despair. "Why am I not surprised!"

The girls looked horrified until Jason cracked up with Adam behind Tommy and Rocky.

"Ooooo you...!" Kat mock attacked a now laughing Tommy.

"Relax! I did it a few days ago, cake and all!" he defended himself weakly, laughing also as Adam was grabbed by Tanya and treated to similar punishment.

"Do you think he knows?" Kat asked eventually.

Tanya shrugged. "If he does he's pretending not too" she contributed.

"What worries me..." Adam said soberly "Is the possibility of a monster attack.. It's been really quiet lately."

"Tooooooo quiet!" Rocky intoned in a melodramatic tone of voice earning him a well deserved poke in the ribs from Kat.

Jason nodded in agreement "We've had nearly a week clear of attacks and only a few before that...and lets face it, holidays, birthdays and events seem to be the supervillains favorite time to attack."

There was a murmur of agreement; they'd all had experience with one of those.

"Well we'll just have to hope it stays clear tomorrow" Tommy said firmly, but felt inside a prescient twinge of concern.

* * *

Billy teleported to his home from the Power Chamber. He had finished tweaking the Zords up to full strength but really, after a week of no attacks, it was all cosmetic fine tuning. He reached to touch his tuned crystal out of habit and then cursed. He'd left it on the side in the Power Chamber on the main Power Console. He activated his communicator and opened a channel.

"Alpha?"

"Yes Billy?"

"Did I leave my tuned Sionas crystal on the side up there.?" he asked.

"Yes." Alpha replied "However Skye picked it up for you - he said he would give it to you later."

"Oh right...thank you Alpha". Billy said and shut down the link. He pondered for a moment wondering what his friend was up to, it was obvious something was going on as he had barely seen him for the last week or so. He knew that the others were planning something for tomorrow, probably a party or something as Adam and Rocky were hopeless when it came to sneaking around, despite their ninja skills. He smiled at the memory of a blatant case of whispering in a group and a box of decorations hastily kicked under the table when he had walked in on them at lunch. But Skye had not been with them, so his secret was something else. It was strange that despite all they had been through, the Star Ninjetti could still hide things from him and he fell for it. Like meeting his father a week ago. He had been annoyed at being set up at the time, but when Skye weathered the storm of his displeasure and just looked at him asking whether it was worth it and he had had to admit yes. They had talked like they had never talked before, his father astonished by the message the Billy had received on what he described as his Vision Quest. It had brought down a barrier that had been erected so slowly over the years that neither had known it had existed. So, though he knew there was a mystery going on, Billy decided that he was willing to be surprised by whatever he had in mind and "surprised" by the party that the others had in mind. Either way, it was possible that this birthday might just be bearable this year.

* * *

King Mondo was as frustrated as his emotion algorithms would allow him without requiring him to take some downtime. He paced.

"Isn't it finished yet?" he asked irritably.

"Nearly your majesty" replied Klank patiently. A group of Cogs were just finishing assembling the complex programming unit that would make this plan finally work.

"Good! Good! " King Mondo exclaimed. "This should get Sprocket out of his sulks. He has been unbearable since I stopped him sending monsters to earth because you needed the energy for this machine." Klank nodded. The entire Machine Empire knew what mood Sprocket was in from personal experience.

"Yes your majesty!" he agreed. For once he thought that it was a good plan, he and Orbus had thought of it after the Star Crystal incident, but of course King Mondo had taken the credit for the idea. He didn't mind who got the credit as long as the plan worked, and he would add as many precautions as he could think of to make it succeed.

"This should be operational by tomorrow, my liege" Klank reported "And once switched on and programmed to the correct frequencies.." he pointed to a large petrol black disc mounted on top of the complex machinery "This Singularity Disc will suck the Zeo crystals of any of their Power the moment they invoke it."

King Mondo laughed evilly "And because the Power is now connected with their life energy...well...it's a terrible shame but it looks like their life energy might just be drained along with their Power."

His metal eyes glowed with restored humor "Finally we will be rid of all of them, we will have the Zeo Power that will power the Machine Empire for millennium and it not before time!."

* * *

Billy opened his front door to an array of grinning familiar faces.

" Happy Birthday Billy!" They chorused so cheesily that Billy had to laugh.

"What's this? A bunch of rejects from the Waltons?" he asked stepping outside to join them.

"Well how did you guess?" Rocky said smiling. They all stood looking at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Tanya grabbed Billy by the arm. "For crying out loud, if you can't recognize an escort party when you see one...." she said pulling him outside.

"With an emphasis on the "party"!" interrupted Rocky enthusiastically. " Come on! lets get moving!"

Kat laughed. "Okay, okay, lets cut to the presents!This way!"

* * *

They adjourned swiftly to the Park where Tommy had arranged for the presents to be on one of their favorite tables. Billy was determined to savor this day and opened each present slowly and appreciated it, much to Rocky's impatient horror. Sometime later he sat surrounded by presents and used wrapping paper and only two presents to go. Rocky finally stepped forward and gave him a book that Billy had wanted, and also an envelope which he mysteriously forbade Billy from opening until he was at home. Billy looked at him quizzically whilst thanking him. Rocky grinned delighted, he'd finally managed to confuse Billy and wait until he opened it!.

Skye stepped up with a tired grin and handed Billy a small package.

Billy looked around at the others and from their expressions realized this present was going to be as much a surprise to them as it was to him. This must be something to do with the surprise!. With excited anticipation he began to open it when suddenly Cogs appeared all around them. They all groaned in unison.

"Cogs! " shouted Tommy dropping into a defensive stance.

"Dammit," Jason muttered explosively. "I just knew it! I knew Mondo would try to spoil everything!"" The peaceful park area devolved into a melee of cogs and battling rangers. Even Billy and Skye took on a couple themselves.

"Tougher than putties or tenga's !" Billy gasped

"Wouldn't know!" Skye replied jumping back as a cog flew apart.

* * *

King Mondo watch the conflict in disgust. "They are not morphing!" she shouted. "The Singularity Disc will not activate until they morph!"

Queen Machina flicked open her metal fan with a sound of unsheathing blades. "Send down a monster or two..." she trilled "That will soon get them to move in the right direction!"

"Beautiful! beautiful my dear! " Mondo exclaimed "The very thing! Klank! see to it immediately!"

* * *

Terrandroid materialized in the park rumbling with an evil laugh flourishing a deadly laser spear. It was one of Mondo's warrior droids, heavily armored and a formidable opponent. Tommy spotted it immediately assessed the situation and called to the others.

"Time to morph guys! he yelled "Billy, Skye best get to the Power Chamber!" he ordered.

Billy and Skye looked at each other rebellious and then accepting the inevitable teleported away. Terrandroid was not something they could deal with without Powers and they would only hinder the others.

There was a chorus of morphing calls and swiftly the bright glittering armored figures of the Zeo Rangers appeared.

* * *

They had morphed - perfect! King Mondo gave the signal with excitement and Klank pulled the activation lever with relish. Power flowed through the Singularity Disc causing it to pulse and hum. Finally it was activated and it's shimmering dark depths seemed to intensify and pulse with a hungry blackness.

* * *

Tommy was in full fighting swing and in the process of launching himself bodily at Terrandroid when he was suddenly overwhelmed by a sickening draining feeling, accompanied by an excruciating pain. He doubled over, only just fending off the blast from Terrandroid.

"Jason!" he shouted dropping to his knees.

This felt like his worst nightmares, like ...when he felt his Green Ranger Powers disappearing, slipping away. Eye's wide with fear he rolled and turned to see the others writhing in a similar state.

Terrandroid laughed mettalically. "You are finished Red Ranger!" it rumbled and leveled its laser spear at the helpless Tommy. Tommy closed his eyes, hearing Kat's scream - and then felt a familiar rush as they were swept up in a teleportational beam.

* * *

"Excellent! Excellent! " King Mondo gloated. "The Zeo Powers are being drained into the Singularity Disc, Light sucked into a Black Hole! - it was worth the wait and the expense...though I admit I thought that a full legion of my best cogs, and a phalanx of my higher grade monsters was a high price at the time, but see how easily this had been accomplished! Ha!"

Queen Machina giggled "Marvelous! Simply marvelous! we will be rulers of Earth in no time!"

"You have secured the dome area?" King Mondo asked, for once cautious of his impending victory.

Klank bowed "It is protected by shielding to prevent teleporting by the rangers should they somehow reactivate their powers, and totally sealed from the outside." Klank said proudly. He had thought of everything. This time they would win!

"Good" King Mondo chortled. "Prepare the Cogs for an invasion as soon as we confirm the Rangers are no more!"

"Yes your majesty! Klank and Orbus chorused.

* * *

The crippled rangers landed on the floor of the Power Chamber their Ranger armor flickering, disintegrating and finally powering down. Billy, who had pulled them out at the critical moment ran over and began a scan.

"Zordon! What is going on?" Skye asked urgently as he helped Kat to sit up, and then the others whilst Billy fed the information to the consoles with a single-minded intensity.

"Rangers, it appears that the Zeo crystals are being drained of the Power." Zordon reported sounding worried.

"Ay-yie-yie! " Alpha contributed. Tanya looked up at Billy, with a frightened look of vulnerability in her dark eyes.

"Billy...I really don't feel well" she whispered. Billy met her fearful gaze knowing that for her to admit that she felt worse than unwell.

"I know Tanya" he said softly, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "You all need to rest for a moment."

Tommy pushed himself up, trying to stand. "We can't! There is a monster loose in Angel Grove". He wavered, the look of disbelief on his face comically tragic as his body refused to obey his will.

Billy caught the Red Ranger as his legs gave way and lowered him down.

"Tommy you can barely stand let alone fight a monster. The sooner you rest, the sooner you can fight." he turned quickly to his computer read out so they would not see the lie in his eyes.

"Billy is correct Rangers" Zordon confirmed. "Alpha assist them to the infirmary....now!"

Billy turned to Zordon after the others were ushered unsteadily away into the Medlab.

"Zordon...you've seen the readings, this is extraordinarily bad." he said urgently "The force is draining not just the Zeo Powers but their life force as well. Within hours they will be..." he couldn't finish the sentence - it wasn't even a possibility he could bring himself to consider.

"I am aware of that Billy" Zordon said gravely "It appears that King Mondo has gone to great lengths to locate a Singularity Disc and has programmed it to drain Zeo energies. I know of no other device that would be able to accomplish this effect "

Billy brightened at this news "Then it is a case of locating Disc and destroying it...should be simple enough! If it is an artificial Singularity, the energy flowing into it will leave a trail right to it's point of origin" he said fiercely and his hand flickered over the controls expertly and he frowned and muttered to himself.

Skye watched and sensed Billy's thoughts focused like fire on his goal, so intense he did not even reach out of himself for help. After what seemed like an eternity Billy swore .

"Dammit! I've located the Disc easy enough, all that energy pouring into it, but it appears to be locked behind a forcefield that I cannot teleport through!" he thumped the console in frustration. 

"Is there a way to bypass it?" Skye asked, but immediately knew that Billy had been trying what he could to get around that problem.

Billy shook his head "It seems impervious to focused teleportation beams...modulated shifts, everything I have tried." With that the warning sirens went off.

"Ay-yie-yie! Terrandroid is rampaging through Angel Grove with a band of Cogs!" Alpha reported.

Billy looked up agonized not knowing what to do. His friends were dying, but the duty of the power rangers was to protect civilians, and he was a power ranger, powerless or not.

Skye looked thoughtful for a moment and then spoke up. "Billy, the forcefield around this Singularity Disc- would it stop a psi teleport or does it stop all teleporting?"

Billy caught on "I don't think it would stop a psi teleport, that seems to bypass normal barriers...can you do one, consciously?"

"Maybe "Skye admitted hesitantly. He wasn't entirely sure at all but it would be worth a try.

Billy stood up a determined look in his blue eyes. "Then teleport me" he demanded.

Skye shook his head firmly and Billy felt abruptly betrayed.

"So you too think that I have to be protected and relegated to the sidelines!" he lashed out accusingly in bitter disappointment and desperation to do something, anything. Skye stared at him in astonishment.

"Is that what you think?" he gave a short laugh. "Quite the opposite - someone has to fight monsters until the Zeo Rangers can call on their powers again and their Zords."

"Me? but how?" Billy asked incredulous. What was he talking about?

"Our birthday present to you, you must use it. Teleport me to just outside that forcefield - I'll psi-teleport across and destroy the Disc somehow and you deal with the monster until enough of the Zeo Powers have returned." Skye paused thoughtfully. That was a big "somehow" considering what had happened the last time he had psi-teleported.

"Then I guess you better come and get me too, as going on what happened last time I'll be weaker than they are now after I teleport. So you be careful fighting monsters because if you get hurt I have had it as well!"

Billy looked a little bemused "I still don't know exactly how..."

"Teleport me now, you will see in a moment" he said cryptically. "Now I know why the wolf was so keen on timing..." he muttered to himself and looked up at Zordon who gave a slight nod.

"Good luck!" Billy said as he teleported him to the required co-ordinates.

And then, conscious of time slipping away Billy examined the package containing Skyes present. He unwrapped it quickly - there was a note inside and his Sionas crystal, now carved with the shape of a Wolf's head. He read the note swiftly.

"Happy Birthday Billy...I apologize for taking your crystal for a while - but I hope that this will be worth it. This present is really a collaboration between Zordon, Alpha, Dulcea, your Wolf Spirit as well as myself. Anyway, you may have realized that we have constructed what you once designed, with a few additional features. I'll tell you the technical details later, but the activation of the spirit armor is now keyed to your tuned crystal. The first transformation may be "uncomfortable" according to the Ninjetti mysteries, so I guess that is an understatement.

You were right in saying you would never be a Zeo ranger, but you can from this day forward claim to be the first Ninjetti Spirit Warrior!"

Billy lifted the wolf spirit crystal watching it sparkle as it twisted in the light. He slipped it on over his head his hands trembling, his emotions indescribable. Finally. Finally!

"Zordon?" he asked looking for approval, his voice shaking slightly as well.

"Ordinarily I would recommend that you take the transition slowly" Zordon replied understandingly. "But with the other Rangers incapacitated and a monster on the rampage there is no choice. As yet there is no Zord connected with the wolf spirit armor, but it has certain capabilities that I am sure you are aware of."

Billy nodded - capabilities that he had daydreamed over and over.

"I would suggest that you transform privately as it may rouse the others."

"Thanks Alpha, Zordon." He went in a semi-daze to the room he had set up for himself in the Power Chamber. He held the crystal for a moment in his hand. In the next few moments he sensed that he would never again be the same. It was a thought that scared him more than he would have liked to admit. But his concerns about the future were nothing compared to the fact that his friends were dying. He focused his thought as he had learnt to do over time and then mindspoke calmly.

__

Blue Ninjetti Spirit Wolf. There was a flare of blue light from the crystal that enveloped him in a glowing power until he felt like he was burning with blue fire, molten spirit fire in his bones, in his mind and eyes. The pain was intense as the energies sought to mesh with him for the first time, but eventually it subsided to a manageable level and he became aware of the familiar, and once thought forever lost feeling of Power alive and active within him.

"Yes!" he exulted. This was the Great Power. He could feel vast resources of dormant energy and then, aside from that, aside from the power and the armor, he felt an indescribably intimate connection with his Wolf Spirit, more than he ever remembered from his alternate timeline memories.

__

Very well done my young one, its voice resounded in his mind _Now we are truly One, now we are the Warrior!_

Billy caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he prepared to teleport. This armor looked more organic, and somehow more dangerous in nature. It was flexible and responsive to movement he could sense it was fully charged and ready for action. It was colored in a blue-tinged wolf-gray and the helmet was an imposing wolf's head with eyes that glowed a pure sky blue.

"Now! time to kick monster butt!" he muttered to himself, grinning beneath the mask. And taking a deep breath teleported to the Park.

* * *

Skye rematerialized outside the sealed chamber in which the Singularity Disc was hidden. Fortunately it was located not too far from Angel Grove as in typical fashion, it had only occurred to him as he teleported that it might be on the Moon!

"Idiot!" he berated himself. One day he would learn to actually think things through properly, but obviously this wasn't that day. He studied the structure carefully. It was a completely sealed dome small and compact and impenetrable. He placed his hands on the outer casing feeling the buzz and tingle of the forcefield. He'd better hurry as the chances of it being unguarded were highly improbable. Inside hopefully would be different. He gripped the Star Crystal firmly and pulled energy within himself. The only time he'd done this before had been in an emergency - once! and an instinctive leap at that. Trying to work out how to do it again was not easy.

He visualized the inside of the sealed chamber and tried to _will_ himself there. Nothing happened.

"Damn!" he exclaimed aloud. He heard a noise behind him and whirled to see Cogs approaching having picked up the sound. Panicked he backed up against the dome wall and just as they were about to open fire, instinctively unlocked his psi-power channeled it through the Star Crystal and teleported.

He landed and immediately collapsed, his chest heaving as if he had just run a marathon. It was worse than he remembered! This teleporting by psi was not easy, not easy at all. He dragged himself up shaking with fatigue, hoping against hope that Mondo felt so secure in his defenses that he didn't post guards inside. He wouldn't be able to fight off that same kitten he had mentioned to Rocky despite his tuition!

He could see the Disc from where he landed within reach and sweating with effort he staggered towards it favoring his bad leg. There was a haze of flickering colors around the swirling black Disc, which he assumed to be the storing Zeo energy. He reached out to it and then yelped as his fingers brushed against another forcefield. He cursed under his breath. He didn't have time for this....the others lives were at stake!. Then he heard a noise behind him - oh lord, he certainly didn't have time for that!

* * *

Billy faced up to Terrandroid rather nervously. It had been a long time since he had fought for real, against a monster and not a few cogs. He had trained hard yes, maybe even harder since he had giving up the powers ironically enough trying to prove something. In fact he could only remember going it alone on a couple of occasions and that had been against Rita's creations which he knew were not on the same lines as the Machine Empire's creations. What to do? What to do?

__

Fight as the Wolf, his wolf spirit whispered _Guile, agility and courage..._

You don't ask much do you? Billy replied before launching himself at the droid.

The exchange was brief, a flash of laser spear blocked by wolf-shielding as Billy was trying to ascertain his opponents weaknesses. He somersaulted backwards out of reach and flung out energy bolts at the monster from his hands. The Terrandroid howled and as Billy was taking stock, he was slammed to the ground by an explosion behind him. He'd miscalculated the position of the Cogs! Now to confuse them! He blurred with speed darting between around behind and in one cocky moment on top of one of them so that they ended up attacking each other. Terrandroid managed to destroy at least four of its own cogs in this fashion.

He began to tire after a while, and realized that the speed burst was to be used sparingly. The cogs formed up around him, more teleporting in as Terrandroid flourished his laser spear. _What now?_ he thought towards his wolf-spirit desperately.

__

A wolf when outnumbered seeks the wisdom of the shadow, was the response.

Billy instinctively tapped into a very useful part of his spirit warrior armor, the ability to become nigh on invisible. And he ran the cogs ragged deactivating them with ease. Unfortunately this too was a transient ability as he noted with horror when he flickered into sight right in front of Terrandroid, who gleefully fired upon him. The laser bolt clipped his arm and damn it hurt! One drawback of this armor, he decided, was that it's organic nature, though more flexible and responsive, transmitted more pain than the old morphing armor. He wished he'd had the chance to get to grips with the capabilities of his armor, before launching into battle.

"This is not good!" Billy said aloud to himself, "I'm losing!".

There was a growl within his mind. _You fight as a human, not as a wolf,_ his spirit wolf whispered. _Join yourself with me and our strength will flow together and you will truly be Wolf Ninjetti._

"Great -but how exactly do I do that?!" Billy gasped rolling rapidly sideways, and legsweeping a Cog before finishing it off with a single devastating blow.

__

It is something that must be felt within, the wolf replied. Billy was the one who found himself growling in frustration at that statement. He hoped Skye was nearly done!

A beam of green light flashed in to the side of him. It was Adam, unmorphed and unsteady on his feet but with a look of grim determination in his eyes.

"Adam!? What are you doing here?!" Billy shouted leaping over to him in a dramatic bound. His friend looked ill and shaky. It was a wonder that he was even standing upright.

"I couldn't let you face such a powerful monster alone, and this many cogs!" he replied weakly.

"Adam, please go back...I don't want you to get hurt!" Billy pleaded, but was then distracted by a surge of Cogs making a beeline for the vulnerable human. For a moment he had even his inhuman wolf reflexes tested by the sheer amount of assailants. It was then that he heard a strangled cry and turned to see Adam in the grip of Terrandroid. This struck him to his very heart and aroused the essentially wolfish instincts that the wolf spirit had attempted to described. A member of his Pack was in danger! There would be no quarter!

"Spirit Claws!" he growled and long glowing energy claws sprang from hands. With renewed vigor he bounded through the midst of the defending cogs, ripping them apart in seconds and then blurred with speed at Terrandroid just long enough to grab Adam from the monsters grasp. The speed failed as he tried to bound away and sick with fear, he gave Adam a mighty push as Terrandroid thrust at him with the laser spear. The spear pierced the spirit armor and with a burning pain pushed through his side, before the monster yanked it back with a cruel twist. He staggered forward, shock hitting his system and saw Adams face stricken with horror, fixed on him and unable to move. He dropped to his knees dizzily, as the cogs, emboldened by his apparent weakness formed up in a cohort to take Adam.

Presumably, Billy thought dizzily, Terrandroid is recharging his spear before finishing me off. Well this has been a very short and sweet return to the Power,.

__

What is this?, the wolf spirit said angrily. _You cannot die whilst your Pack lies in peril...What is pain to a wolf? Is it reason to let him die?_

How can I save any of them when I cannot fight? Billy thought almost angrily.

There was a wolfish sigh _The true power of the Ninjetti is not the body or the mind, but the spirit...use it young Wolf and save your Pack!_

Yes Billy thought, the body was injured, the mind clouded but his instincts clamored with a knowing that was desperate to act. With a growling cry he pulled energy from within himself and flung it in a burst of Power at the Cogs, which exploded in a particularly gratifying fashion.

"Yes!" Billy yelped in triumph. But there was still Terrandroid to deal with and....he pressed his hand to his burning side, and then glanced down at the blood. "Oh... _fish!"_ he muttered.

* * *

Skye turned to see a cog bearing down on him. Great, there was no chance of him winning this one. Rocky's nickname for him was more apt than they realized at the time - unless he didn't fight. Pretending to slump against the Control Console, which didn't take a lot of acting, he waited for the cog to draw close. The cog approached to pick him up, but as it reached over to grab him, using what little strength he had, he turned and grabbed it's metallic arm, twisted and pushed it right into the forcefield encasing the Disc. With a blinding cascade of sparks the cog exploded taking the forcefield with it in the ensuing blast. Too exhausted to even speak, Skye pulled himself up, his mind telling him to hurry, hurry. He took the Singularity Disc with a shaking hand, feeling the stored Zeo crystal energy beneath his fingers.

This, he thought is not going to be pretty, that's if the stupid thing is even breakable!

He couldn't wait any longer, he just knew, that if it wasn't done now, then it would be too late! He hefted the disc in his right hand and threw it as hard as his failing strength would allow against the far wall. It sailed through the air incongruously like a frisbee and struck the wall and shattered like glass! He was blown backwards in an explosion of multicolored light, that streamed through him, filling his mind with strange images, so much so that he barely noticed when the place came down around and on top of him.

* * *

The Wolf was at bay: Billy was standing over Adam, snarling defiance at the laughing Terrandroid. He had barely fended off the last attack. Suddenly an emerald sphere of glittering light enveloped his friend and within moments Adam appeared revitalized.

"My Powers!" he exclaimed..and then wasted no more time. "Zeo Ranger IV, Green!" he shouted flicking out his zeonizers, and morphing rapidly to stand beside the Blue Wolf Spirit Warrior.

"Skye did it!" Billy gasped and watched with relief as five other colored beams of light glittered in around him. Within moments the Zeo Rangers were arrayed around them, ready for action.

"Billy?" came Kat's hesitant voice "Is that you?"

The wolf spirit warrior looked ferocious, blood stained and dangerous, not qualities that she'd ever really associated with Billy. 

"Affirmative" he replied absently his thoughts already elsewhere.

Tommy straightened up. "Lets take this guy Rangers !" he shouted. Billy interrupted quickly.

"Tommy I have to help Skye...he will be in trouble after psi-teleporting!"

Tommy looked at the bloodstained figure and recognizing the fact he would not be able to stop him, wisely decided to assist him.

"Jase? We've got this pile of scrap covered here...." 

The Gold Ranger nodded understanding "I'll go with you Billy." he said firmly. They teleported away.

* * *

The scene of devastation at the Singularity Disc site was enough to make their hearts sink. The place was, to put it in the vernacular...totaled.

"Do you read him?" Jason asked, anxiously keeping watch.

Billy shook his head "I can't even feel his mind." he muttered concerned.

The Gold Ranger glanced at him surprised..."You read minds?"

Billy flushed "No, no he does.... well since what happened on Phaedos, we have a mental bond."

Jason was still desperate to ask exactly what had happened on Phaedos, but the moment passed.

"Maybe he's unconscious then?" he suggested grabbing at straws.

Billy's tone brightened a little " Maybe yes....that could be it...I'll start over here" He ran over to the debris uncertain of where to begin.

__

Foolishness pup! the soft blue tones of his wolf spirit rebuked, _You are a wolf, seek him as a wolf._

Billy considered this advice. So he had the resources of the wolf to draw on...well then....the senses of the wolf would be the most useful, especially the sense of smell. He focused upon the spirit crystal, trying to scent his friend. Meanwhile, Jason was keeping himself occupied with a brace of cogs that had obviously been left to guard the dome before it's destruction.

It's time for a Gold Rush!" he shouted leveling his Gold staff at the Cogs. The Golden energy poured out decimating the metal robots but more were on their way. Billy suddenly became aware of an onslaught of aroma's, bright powerful acrid smells, darks, thick choking smells and there a faint glitter of metallic blood smell. Skye his friend, was covered by debris and surrounded by matt black inert shards, and obviously unconscious. Billy dug at the rubble immediately, uncovering him, relief washing over him as he realize that there were no serious injuries. His friend was unconscious, but on the whole aside from minor contusions and lacerations he was remarkably untouched, and he could be moved. He pocketed one of the black shards so he could make sure this never happened again and called out to the Gold Ranger.

"Found him Jase!" he shouted.

"Good!" Jase replied shortly, still battling.

Billy scooped up Skye, ignoring the stab of pain in his side. "Zordon! Teleport us to the Power Chamber!" he asked and abruptly all three of them flashed away in streams of blue, gold and silver light.

* * *

They had barely landed in the safe have of the Power Chamber when Jason whirled and addressed Zordon.

"How are they doing?" he asked urgently.

"They have assembled the Zeozord to fight Terrandroid - they need Pyramidis to finish the conflict" Zordon advised. The Gold Ranger nodded.

"Right...you okay Billy?" he asked and receiving a nod, then teleported to battle.

Billy lay Skye down on one of the medicouches he had installed and as he did so felt the artists mind reach out towards him in a clearer brighter way than he ever had before. Must be the transformation he thought as he watched his friends eyes flick open and then widen as he stared into a wolfshead.

"Hey Billy...your suit looks pretty good on." he croaked out, coughing at the dust all over him.

Billy suddenly realized what he was referring to "Oh. Spirit Armor power down." he directed the thought through his spirit crystal and the wolf armor crackled and flowed away.

"How are you feeling?"" he asked concerned .

Skye blinked slowly. "Bruised, battered, splitting headache...frankly little weird" he replied. Images flowed through his head like fire and he found it very difficult to concentrate on his current surroundings. One thing though immediately caught his attention.

"But I'm more worried about you...." he said gesturing at Billy's bloodstained shirt.

Billy looked down. "Oh..oh...yeah, the Terrandroid ran me through this side with the laser-spear. I forgot!"

"Like it's something you would forget." Skye commented wryly. Billy lifted his shirt and studied his side with interest. He had genuinely forgotten about it, though at the time he had thought it was the end of him. He prodded at a nearly healed wound complete with tender achy tissue, but it seemed nearly cured.

"Well that's impressive." he commented impressed. "It may hurt more but it heals quickly. I appear to be quite fit."

Skye nodded gingerly "The Spirit Armor capabilities for healing are linked directly to the Great Power ...oh....." A wash of powerful images flowed through him dizzying in their complexity and vividness.

Explosions on the moon....a purple haired woman radiating evil... the Gold Ranger, collapsing... new faces different faces... an ethereal woman in Zordons place... mixed jumbled over whelming... flickering so fast and out of control....

"Skye? Skye?" Billy was concerned. His friend's eyes had suddenly seemed to go completely blank.

"Just felt a bit odd there for a moment." Skye said slowly. More than a little odd. He had no control over these images, and a desperate growing urge to sketch them out of his system. Maybe that would stop them burning in his mind.

Billy scanned his friend "You are showing very high ambient energies but nothing...really disturbing." he said frowning. "It would be advisable for you to consider convalescent recuperation".

"Er Billy...I'm fine...really."

"I just said that!" Billy protested.

"Yes..it was the way you said it. You are teching out on me, you only do that when you are nervous." Skye grinned.

Billy smiled. "I guess so."

Skye pushed himself up, trying to ignore the resurgence of images.

"So, enjoying your birthday so far?" he asked with dry irony in his voice.

"Well aside from the near death experience...fantastic." Billy replied truthfully. So much had changed in such a short time. Less than an hour ago he had been Powerless and now he was a Ninjetti Spirit Warrior. How on earth could he express what that feeling meant to him? He owed it to them to at least try.

"Zordon, Alpha...Skye I'd like to thank you all for this...for giving me back the Powers."

Zordon spoke solemnly "The Power was always yours Billy, and there is no-one that I can think of that deserves it more. You are a holder of the Great Power now, and the first of the Spirit Warriors foretold in the distant past. You designed the spirit armor, and you deserve it!"

A lump came to Billy's throat. He had dreamed of this for so long and now it was here! Despite the rough initiation, the old rush had been there, the thrill, the adrenaline rollercoaster of the Power.

"Thanks" he said quietly and was prevented from saying any more by colored light filling the Power Chamber as the rangers returned triumphant. As they powered down, Adam rushed over eyes fixed on Billy's bloodstained shirt.

"Billy...you okay?" he asked, his voice unsteady

"Fine Adam...really... . All healed, well a little tender but nearly completely gone." Billy replied sensing the concern. He wasn't sure what he felt about Adams interruption of his battle with Terrandroid. He'd been so worried, so angry in some ways that he risked himself.

"But...but I saw it run you through with a spear, and then the blood!" Adam said in disbelief. He could not believe his friend was just standing here large as life as if nothing had happened.

Billy ruffled his sandy hair absently, "Yes, and it hurt too...hurts more than the old armor, but heals quicker... see?" he lifted the shirt exposing the vivid pinkish red patch of new scar tissue on his side.

Tanya grinned raising her eyebrows appreciatively. "Lookin' good Billy..." she teased.

Kat looked him up and down. "Not too shabby" she drawled making the young genius blush. The others laughed at his discomfiture and in the ensuing confusion, Adam quietly teleported away. Tanya glanced round and noting his absence made her excuses and went after him.

* * *

"Adam! Adam wait up!" Tanya called out, running a little to catch him up. He stopped but refused to turn and look at her. Tanya could almost feel the shadow of guilt around him. 

"Adam, come on what is the matter?" she asked outright, planting herself immovable in front of him.

"You have to ask? I nearly got him killed! you didn't see it Tanya... the spear pushed right through him, because I was too weak to help him, because he had to protect me!" Adam was choked with guilt.

A dawning sense of symmetry washed over her. Maybe she could get him to see what this meant and that it wasn't a question of fault, but of circumstance. She placed her hand on his arm gently.

"Adam, why did you go down there....without power?"

He looked at her oddly anguished. "I couldn't bear to see him fighting alone out there, I had to do something!"

"You went because you cared Adam!" Tanya said "That is not a crime!"

"But getting a friend injured _is!"_ he replied adamant. He shook his head slowly, and shrugged off her hand "I'm sorry Tanya. I need to be alone right now. I'll meet up with you later!" he said and strode off swiftly.

"Adam!....Adam!" she called after him and then subsided. If there was one thing she had learnt about the Green Ranger was that when he turned in on himself it was no easy matter to draw him out again unless he decided to let go of what was troubling him. Tanya sighed and turned back to meet the others.

* * *

"I don't know whether to...slap Adam or merely throttle him!" Billy muttered under his breath as he was getting changed. There was still a party to go too despite all the days events and they had decided turning up in bloodstained ripped clothing probably might attract a bit of attention. As Rocky had said rather unsubtley, it wasn't like it was a Halloween Party or something.

"Aside from the fact that he would probably trash me within seconds, now he has the Power back." he finished ruefully unable to let go of the issue.

Skye shook his head and threw Billy the clean shirt "Why? What's the problem?"

"He had no business putting himself in harms way, he could have been killed without any powers!" Billy protested brushing his wet hair back after a shower with irritated strokes.

Skye stopped and looked at him piercingly. After a brief silence he said, "Have you listened to yourself? To what you are saying?"

Billy looked up irritably. Skye said nothing more, knowing that he wouldn't have to as Billy would figure it out eventually. He waited until the Wolf Ninjetti looked up with comprehension glowing in his eyes.

"Oh my god... this is me isn't it!?" Billy exclaimed. He had completely missed the obvious parallels between how he had felt every time they had gone into battle.

Skye nodded, tying back his hair neatly, grimacing as he stretched his bruised body. Unfortunately, he didn't heal as quickly as Billy did.

"I'm so blind!" Billy moaned. "I'm going to have to speak to him about this aren't I?"

"Uh-huh..." Skye said, and added pointedly, "And I should do it now, before Adam becomes as fixed in his idea's as you did."

"Hmm... I get the message." Billy said as they left, walking down the street towards the park. "How though? If I know Adam he will run a mile if he sees me coming."

Skye pondered briefly before stopping "I wonder if you can do the shape change of the Ninjetti, like Dulcea shifting into her Owl form."

Billy shook his head "I couldn't in the other time line.

"But in the other timeline you were a Ninjetti, not a Ninjetti spirit warrior." Skye said. "The spirit crystal creates a much more intense connection with your animal spirit....no harm in asking."

They stepped off the main path out of sight. Billy reached for his spirit crystal

__

Revered One, I request your assistance, he mindspoke. Wolfish laughter rippled.

__

Revered One? Most appropriate young wolf! What is it you wish?

I would share your form, Billy thought.

__

For what purpose?

I would assist my friend Adam. There was a wolfish sigh

__

Ah yes, the young Frog, his Transformation is not yet complete. It is the nature of the Frog to be sensitive to their environment, and sometimes that clouds even their wisdom. It is a cause worthy of the Wolf. Follow my instruction young one.

It was strangely easy and difficult to accomplish the wolf-change. It was essentially a case of letting go of the sense of feeling human. He would have found that very difficult if it hadn't been for that moment in the battle earlier when he had, in protecting Adam, felt the call of a Packbond, a true sense of wolfness. With assistance, that sensation came back to him, and abruptly he shimmered into the shape of a large gray wolf. Skye regarded him with a small pang of envy, and then smiled as Wolf-Billy cocked his head on one side.

He touched his Star Crystal "_Billy?"_

Skye, this is marvelous, Billy mindspoke. It was a hundred times more impressive than the tuning in he did whilst in human form at the Singularity Disc site. His sight was vivid, smells glorious and colorful and there was a sense of unbridled freedom and a yearning to run that was almost overpowering.

__

You go and find Adam, I will catch up as soon as I can, Skye said with a wistful mental sigh.

Wolf-Billy yipped in agreement and loped off.

* * *

The trails of his friends hung in the air burning bright in his nose, and he could hear their distant voices off to the left. Adam's scent on the other hand bore off to the right. He trotted along following the trail and observed his disconsolate friend sitting throwing stones and sticks aimlessly. Perfect.

* * *

Adam picked up another stick and hefted in his hand and then threw it as hard as he could away - a gray shape shot out of the undergrowth and grabbed the stick and trotted towards him tail wagging furiously. The dog dropped the stick at his feet and barked happily.

"I don't want to play" Adam said morosely.

The dog whined pleading and nudged the stick nearer. Adam shrugged and threw the stick again. The dog joyfully bounded after it. Adam slumped down against the tree as the dog returned again. This time the dog found all its importunings unheeded, and eventually sat down resting his head against him. Adam found himself stroking the long silky fur.

"It must be good to be a dog" he told the dog. He felt safe with this dog, which was odd in itself .

"What problems do you have? The next stick to chase huh? Not like me. Problems...problems, wish that was my only problem. I've got big problems." The dog whined sympathetically.

"I've got this friend, a best friend - and I hurt him. I nearly killed him today. I think I will see that image for the rest of my life, that moment which the spear pushed through him because he pushed me out of danger, him in terrible pain because of my weakness, me being a liability. God it was horrible! I thought he was going to die. I've never been so scared....I'll never forget it, ever." Adam sighed deeply, his voice quavering.

"He probably hates me, I shouldn't have been there. Maybe he thinks I doubted him, but I just couldn't bear to see him fight alone...I just couldn't! But all I did was cause him pain." A couple of tears trickled down his cheeks and the dog licked his face, an oddly comforting gesture.

"You'd forgive me hey boy?" he asked. The dog chuffed encouraging and nuzzled his hand.

"But will he? I couldn't tell him this....there's no way I could..."

"You already have Adam" a soft voice said. Skye was there.

Adam suddenly realized that the dogs collar was a silver chain with a crystal hanging on it.

"No... oh nooooo." Adam gasped as insight flooded over him. There was a blur of blue light and abruptly Billy was sitting where the dog...no, _wolf_ had been.

Adam, despite all the amazing things he had witnessed as a Power Ranger, was still incredulous.

"Billy?" His mind whirled in astonishment. He could not believe what had just happened. "You played stick? You licked me?"

Billy smiled. It had surprised him too, but at the time had seemed totally natural behaviour. "You have the instincts of a wolf when in the shape and wolves love that sort of thing" he answered lightly, realizing that Adam was trying to evade the issue. It was time to put and end to this before it began.

"Adam...Adam listen to me. I understand why you did what you did....intimately!" he said intensely.

"What do you mean?" Adam replied, confused.

"I mean that I felt like you did every time you went into battle, all of you, and this time I was taught a harsh lesson in what it felt to be on your side of the Power fence. I'm ashamed to admit that I was angry...because I was scared for you, until I was told to take a good look at myself." They both glanced at Skye who had discretely walked away to give them privacy.

Billy smoothed back his hair, something he often did when discomfited. He took a deep breath. In some ways this would be more difficult than any monster fight.

"Adam...this is not easy for me to say. I've never been good at making myself understood. I have to struggle to talk normally, you know that. Adam, you have been and always will be one of my best friends. I have never said how much I needed and valued our friendship before. When I was without the Power, you tried your best to help me....when I had the Power you did your best to help me. I was too wrapped up in myself to ever say this before. I need you guys more than anything. I could forgive you anything, and I hope you will forgive me for all that time I pushed you away. "

Adam was astonished, his dark eyes wide. Billy had changed. He would never have had the...strength to make a speech like that before the time he had spent powerless. Did any of them? Would he have been able to say something like that. Maybe there was a value in losing the power. Unable to trust himself to speak Adam nodded mutely.

Billy smiled, mostly with relief. "You over this Adam? At least in that you can let go of that guilt that you are experiencing...and don't say that you are not."

"Yes... I think I am, even if it took you turning into another species to do it." Adam said. "That was a dirty trick Billy!"

"But unspeakably clever! hehehe... ." Billy joked.

Adam grinned. He suddenly got a mischievous gleam in his eye as he considered how he had been fooled.

"How about a small trick on the others?" he suggested with a wicked grin. Billy met his dark eyes and started to laugh as he had an inkling of what was planned

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

* * *

Skye and Adam walked up to the others trailed by a large gray dog. Tanya noted with relief that Adam appeared to be in somewhat better humor, and considered to herself that Skye had possibly talked him around. It wouldn't be the first time. The artist was a compulsive listener and seemed to draw people out of themselves just by being around.

"Where's Billy?" Kat asked from across the picnic table.

"On his way." Adam said, with a suspicious eye fixed on the dog that was sniffing around close to Tanya. It eventually approached the Yellow Ranger enthusiastically.

"What a lovely dog!" she exclaimed stroking and fussing over the creature.

"Is he yours?" Kat asked also stroking its soft fur

"No he just started following us." Adam said in a hostile tone.

Kat and Tanya cooed and petted the dog, which managed to look very smug at the attention. After a while Adam approached Tanya to sit next to her only to receive a warning growl.

"Hey mutt! Paws off my girlfriend!" he warned. The dog growled menacingly and then blatantly licked Tanya's face looking even more smug.

"That enough!" Adam lunged at the dog which snapped at him.

"Adam!" Kat said in alarm. The dog uncurled and began to stalk towards the Green Ranger growling and bristling.

Tanya began to panic...and called out, "Tommy, Jason, Rocky! help!"

Adam meantime was hurling abuse at the dog "Ugly Cur! dumb dog, get your flea-ridden hide out of here!" The dog poised to leap.

"Adam no!" Tommy shouted sprinting over, but too late as the dog bounced at Adam and dragged him to the ground snarling viciously, much to the other Rangers horror.

They all rushed forward, to hear Adam yell, "Dammit dog why don't you fight me like a man!" and then a familiar voice said,

"As you wish" and with a blur of light suddenly there was Billy kneeling on Adams chest. The two of them looked at the others totally gobsmacked faces and then promptly cracked up into helpless laughter.

"Billy?" Tanya stated the obvious. There wasn't much else she could do. "You licked me?!"

"Oh and he's going to pay for that later!" Adam gasped and rolled around helpless with mirth. Skye too was doubled up with silent laughter. The astonishing sight of the three most serious and reserved of their group in hysterical laughter, gradually infected the others. Soon they were all laughing uncontrollably.

"Ah man that was a morphinominal...no hang on, can't use that for Billy..." Rocky wheezed still snorting with laughter.

"How about ninj-tastic?" Adam supplied dryly. And Billy nearly ruptured himself laughing at that one.

* * *

All in all, it had been a pretty good birthday, Billy sighed contentedly. His side hurt, all his muscles ached, but if he had been still in his wolf-shape he would be out there howling at the moon. He sat on his bed pulling off his shirt making a mental note to himself to make sure he had got rid of the other shirt first thing in the morning.. He touched his wolf crystal briefly and smiling mindspoke thanks to his wolf spirit. He was just about to get into bed when his eyes lit upon the envelope that Rocky had given him, that mysterious package. Intrigued despite his tiredness, Billy opened it. Inside was a note from Rocky and a strip of paper with what appeared to be an Internet address on it. The note was brief, in a Rocky type fashion.

__

Billy,  
I can't claim all the credit for this present as I was put up to it by a certain someone, though it was my idea, and I got it together. It's probably something you could have done easily, but for whatever reason you haven't. Look at page 7 when you get there and I hope in some way that it makes up for the whole Zeo crystal thing.  
  
Rocky.

Billy fired up his computer, curiosity running wild. What was this all about? He impatiently waited whilst it connected, even with his altered turbocharged PC, the slight delay seemed too long. The address seemed to be a hyperlink to a website, which when he got there was called _Better to have..._ "loved and lost" he muttered to himself capping the phrase.

Page 7 huh? Okay....The page was filled with short elegant poems. The titles leapt out at him. "Yellow sun and wildfire sky" "Leaving blues." "Heart of Goldenfire" "Bluestar vanishing."

He read the poems, their words searing through him leaving a trail of vivid glorious emotions. He lent back in shock, seeing the net alias ST.Tiger...My god it was her! and those poems of passion and loss were about him! Of all the things that had happened on this day, this had to be the most incredible and as he was alone he could admit it to himself, the most wonderful!

Skye, downstairs in the guest room paused in his detailed sketching of the mysterious woman he had seen in Zordon's Tube. He smiled to himself as he felt, without having to consciously link to the Star Crystal, a massive surge of emotion as Billy's heart blossomed with the rediscovery of his love for a certain ex-ranger. Finally things were starting to come together!

"Way to go Rocky..." he whispered aloud to the listening night as he felt Billy's dreams come alive.

### End


	4. Spirit Threads:- Severed Threads

**__**

Disclaimer: Saban owns the Power Rangers and all the rest of it, I don't. Strange but true. Skye Brannon is mine however and anything else that you don't recognise. This is technically the fourth fic in the Sun Goes Down series, though it got a little out of control so lets call it fics four and five. Reading the other fics might not be a bad idea as there are references to things that happened in them. Anyway, hope you enjoy it! - Peregrine.

### Spirit Threads One: Severed Threads  
by Peregrine
    
    Though it was meant to be a secret, all of the Rangers knew the real reason for Billy's mystery trip. After Rocky had told them what had been in his secret present to Billy, a website with Trini's name and by all accounts her heart all over it, and then to have Billy announce that he had bought a plane ticket and would be away for a little over a week - well as Rocky said...you didn't need Billy's smarts to figure it out. Kat and Tanya, since this revelation had spent an inordinately large amount of their time in speculations about what would happen when Billy and Trini met. In fact it had become a favourite topic of conversation in their daily meeting at the Juice Bar. Rocky was still glowing with the reaction the girls had given him to his involvement in this romantic development. Kat had been particularly impressed, as Adam had pointed out to him, a fact which the Blue Ranger shrugged off as being a compliment from one matchmaker to another. Still it had been nice to have their undivided attention. In a week Billy would be back and it was their considered opinion that the poor guy would know no mercy until he had spilled every single detail of his trip! In the meantime, it appeared that they had a more pressing problem to deal with.

* * *

Rocky, Adam, Tanya and Skye were sitting at their usual table in the Juice Bar embroiled in a very in depth discussion. "I'm serious!" Skye protested over the others half stifled laughter. "I think Rocky should teach me to do those dramatic retorts that you guys always use. It beats me how you think them up, and it certainly sounds better than "arrgh! horrible monster thing" which is all I managed last time."

Rocky almost choked on his smoothie, nearly spilling it down his blue jeans. "Yeah, and nearly got me toasted, because I was laughing so much I couldn't morph!"

"See? for safety reasons then..." Skye pleaded surpressing a smile.

Adam smirked a little. "I hate to tell you this but I think it comes with the Power. I never used to do it before neither did Rocky....don't know about Tanya though. I'm pretty sure she wandered around the African Bush yelling 'what! _lion_ down on the job?! And you hyena's have laughed your last!! "

"Hey!" Tanya protested and tweaked his dark green shirt to get him back into line. She enjoyed this banter, she liked things in harmony and since Billy becoming a Ninjetti Spirit Warrior things seemed lighter as if a shared burden of guilt had been lifted from them. Plus of course the battles were over that much quicker. Jason strode purposefully into the Juice Bar with a slight frown on his face and a letter in his hand. 

"Is Tommy here?" he asked by way of greeting.

Adam shook his head wondering what was going on. "No he's out with Kat, in the Park somewhere..."

Jason sat down, relieved. "Good...this..." he waved the piece of paper around, "is a letter from Kimberley, saying that she is coming back!"

"Hey great!" Rocky exclaimed impulsively and then his face fell as he considered the implications of her return. "...oh..."

"'oh' is right" Adam contributed in a subdued voice.

Skye and Tanya looked at each other realising they were the only ones who really didn't know what the anxiety was all about. Obviously there was a problem of some description. Skye looked around at the group, and surreptitiously touching the Star Crystal hanging around his neck so he would be able to pick up the information required.

" Sorry, who is Kimberley again? " he asked the group. A welter of vivid images of a petite brown haired girl, graceful and spirited, pink ranger, firebird, crane Ninjetti, Kim and Tommy, Kat and Kim and Tommy poured into his mind....

"She's..." Jason began trying to work out where to begin. Skye held up a hand, to forestall another rush. He had underestimated the intensity of their memories and regard for Kim.

"S'okay, I just got it all from you." replied the Star Crystal Ninjetti, rubbing his forehead and temples gingerly. One day, he thought, I am going to get the hang of this hunk of stone.

"Well I didn't, some of us don't have your advantages!" Tanya said pointedly. "But I'm guessing that we are talking about Tommy's ex, yeah?.....before Kat."

"Exactly." Jason sighed. What a mess. It had been dropped right on him too, as he had told her in a letter recently that he had come back and that she should visit, so it was partly his own fault. But he'd been asking her that for ages so what had changed to make her decide now was a good time? And that didn't change the fundamental difficulty about this whole thing.

"What do I do about Tommy and Kat though? Is this going to be a huge problem? There is no way that she's not going to see them." Jason finally said. They looked at each other silently. They all knew Tommy still had unresolved feelings for Kim, whether he admitted it even to himself. It was not going to be easy for Tommy, or for any of them.

"So why is she coming back? " Rocky asked cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Just for a visit, a break from training she says" Jason replied. If he believed that for a moment there wouldn't even be an issue. They sat in silence, the atmosphere crumpled into anticipatory tension.

" All of the complications aside, it'd be great to see Kim again" Adam commented feeling a bit nostalgic "Like old times...when does she get here?"

"Well that's just it" Jason said heavily, "In a couple of days...I think she wrote to me so I would tell Tommy but not have time to talk her out of it."

"At least Billy will be back not long after she gets back" Rocky said thinking ahead a little. "He'd hate to miss her!

Jason nodded thoughtfully. That was true. Billy and Kim had been pretty close, and he knew that Billy was apparently not bad at keeping in touch. He shook his head. This was not getting to the heart of the matter; Tommy and Kat.

"I'll tell them both." he said finally.

"Need a hand bro?" Rocky offered. Adam also met the Gold Rangers gaze offering his support.

"Nah...I'll be fine, everything will be fine." Jason said stoutly, secretly dreading the task. "Besides she's only back for a couple of weeks, what could go wrong in that space of time?"

* * *

Billy had said goodbye to Trini and was filled with a burning glow from a surprisingly passionate farewell kiss. Yes, he Billy Cranston had kissed Trini! Well actually it had been more the other way around but the end result was the same. He stood in the airport lobby basking in the warmth of that memory. She was even more beautiful than he remembered and that was saying something! He had come here and they had talked. It sounded simple, but those simple acts of communication had changed his life more profoundly than anything that had ever happened to him. He may not have been totally comfortable with discussing emotions, and he may not have said some things that he should have said but the answer was the same. She wanted to be with him, as much as he wanted to be with her! Everything had been better than he could have imagined. There was no doubt now in his mind...now as soon as he finished that self-powered teleporter, he would be able to see her whenever. Now there was a thought. His fingers brushed his spirit crystal as he reached in his jacket for his tickets and he had a vivid mental impression of his very smug wolf spirit.

__

You should be wagging your tail he said lightly.

__

Wagging my tail? Wolves do not wag their tails! I am not a dog! it replied in a mock affronted tone. Its tail flicked from side to side nonetheless.

__

She has a glossy coat and very bright eyes it wolfspoke slyly. 

Billy had to stifle a laugh. Admittedly, Trini did have lovely black hair and eyes but it sounded so, um, basic when put like that. Next thing he would know the wolf spirit would be commenting on whether she had a cold wet nose or not! Billy was becoming accustomed to the strange ways of his Power animal; and to think he had assumed that it would be deadly serious all the time and deal with things with solemn gravity! How wrong could he have been. Billy was just about to mentally reply when he felt the wolf inside alert to...danger.

__

We are needed it said and faded. Billy's joyous feeling was suddenly replaced by an inexplicable adrenaline rush of fear. There was nothing around him to produce the reaction. He sensed, he reached, he inspected the airport, and all his logic told him that there was no danger, but nonetheless he was trembling with the need to face or run from danger. Heaving a patient sigh, he glanced up to see when his flight was boarding when he heard a muted bleep from his communicator. He ducked swiftly into the rest room and activated his communicator.

"Billy here Zordon." he whispered, feeling sick with apprehension. Zordon had expressly said he was not going to interrupt his holiday and this was too close to the strange feeling to be a coincidence.

"Billy, a crisis has developed, prepare to teleport directly to the Power Chamber immediately." Zordon's voice was unusually solemn.

"Affirmative Zordon" he replied and vanished in a stream of blue light.

* * *

The Power Chamber that met him on his return was nothing like the one he had left a week previously. Consoles sparked, lights flickered...equipment was damaged and it looked like a conflict had taken place with in the sacrosanct walls of the Power Chamber itself. That in itself brought back too many bad memories of the last time there had been such destruction, which resulted in him losing the Power. He took a deep breath and focused his disturbed emotions as panic threatened.

"Zordon...what the....what on earth has happened here?" he asked in an intense controlled tone. If this had happened to the Power Chamber..then what on earth has happened to the others? Before their Mentor could answer, Adam and Tanya ran into the room both looking worn and upset, their clothes dishevelled as if they had been working and sleeping in the same outfits for some time.

"Billy! Billy man am I glad to see you!" One look at the worried on Tanya's nigh on permanently optimistic face was enough to convince Billy that this was not going to be the best of homecomings. He surreptitiously summoned the comforting presence of his Wolf spirit and began to assess the technical damage and start repairs as he said,

"Adam...could you please tell me what has been going on?" in as much of a mild calming tone as he could muster, which appeared to settle the two Zeo rangers.

"Well...I guess it all began when Kim came back..." started Adam. Billy flashed him a startled glance but motioned for him to continue. Kim had come back? When had that all happened?

"Things were...well kind of tense - you know" Tanya added. She sighed. "With the whole Kat ,Tommy and Kim thing, tensions and all"

Billy nodded, of course that was always going to be a problem. One of the reasons Kim was always asking in her letters for them to visit her, rather than her come back to Angel Grove.

"Surprisingly, Kimberley was basically throwing Kat and Tommy together" Adam went on "and she really seemed over Tommy, so we all kinda relaxed." Adam stopped.

"And then? Billy prompted dreading the reply.

"I think it would be best if you saw it for yourself." Adam said heavily.

Zordon finally spoke "Behold the viewing globe!" he intoned sombrely.

* * *

__

A sunny afternoon in Angel Grove (mind you, Billy thought wryly, were there any other kind?). The group of rangers along with Kim and Skye appeared to have met up to go on a nature hike of some description. Up the rim above Stone Canyon by the looks of it. Not unsurprisingly Kim still seemed to favour wearing pinks, though she dressed in softer, more muted shades than he remembered. Billy watched with interest as he observed the interactions of the group. Kim, and he had to admit she still made his heart race even now, was mingling, but definitely dropping back through the group to the back. That was strange; the Kim he knew, would have been striking out front, breaking the trail. So naturally she ended up at the back with Skye, who though not exactly struggling to keep up, was to a certain extent hampered by the damage to his left leg, and was trailing back a little. It was almost as if she felt uncomfortable with her old friends. He watched the interaction between one of his oldest friends and his newest.

"Skye right?" she asked brightly "You are Billy's friend yeah?"

The white haired artist smiled. "Yeah, mainly"

"Not one of the.." she questioned hesitantly

"No...no...though I help Billy out a fair bit nowadays." replied Skye.

Kim appeared to relax, and started to chat about this and that, and Billy observed a glazed expression on Skye's face, and that his replies became more and more monosyllabic, looking as if he was ill suddenly. The artist frowned as if struggling to concentrate on Kim's' words.

Eventually he turned to the ex-ranger and said "Kim I'm sorry, can we stop a moment?"

" You not feeling so good?" Kim asked solicitously.

Skye just stared at her , frowning slightly. "Frankly no....I know you don't know me Kim....but please what on earth is wrong?" he asked urgently.

"What do you mean?" Kim blustered weakly.

"I don't know if Billy has told you of my...abilities but I can feel a mental pain and despair radiating off of you that nigh on knocking me sideways!" Skye said in an intense whisper gripping the Star Crystal around his neck.

The colour drained from Kim's face and she stepped back. "I...I..

Suddenly, a brace of cogs materialised, and an ugly looking monster surrounding them all.

"It's Morphin' Time!" he heard Tommy shout from up ahead. A chaotic scene ensued, and the powerless, if battling Skye and Kim were swept down the track further away from the Rangers.

"Kim!" he heard Tommy shout, and then, "I want you to get her out of here Skye, do it now! It's too dangerous!"

Kimberley was in the process of somersaulting away from an attacking cog. She spotted a bunch of trailing wires at the base of its neck joint and deftly yanked them free in a satisfying shower of sparks, shutting it down.

"Phew!" she said "Tougher than Putties and Tenga's"

"So everyone tells me!" replied Skye breathlessly. "Anytime anyone wants to swap them over so I can make a comparison....now might be convenient!" 

Kim flipped the Cog that was giving Skye some trouble over the edge of the cliff. She stood close to the edge of the canyon cliff breathing hard as Skye limped towards her reaching for his communicator, determined to carry out Tommy's instructions. She did look a little winded from their brief encounter.

"Come on lets get out of..." his sentence remain unfinished as Kim suddenly swayed and slipped with heart-stopping suddenness and slipped over the edge of the cliff. Skye with astonishing reflexes that he hadn't thought he possessed lunged after her but was caught unbalanced and slid over the edge after her. They tumbled a short way, Skye never breaking his grip and wedged in a sapling jutting out from the cliff face, the jolt of impact leaving Kim scrambling for a more secure grip on his leg, and Skye bent double over the springy trunk of the tree.

"Hold on Kim!" Skye reassured hoarsely, once he had recovered enough to find his voice "I'll teleport...oh..." the communicator on his wrist was smashed. Of all the stupid things to do!. He should have just grabbed Kimberley from the fight and teleported straight away as Tommy had said, not tried to join in. He was sweating, in extreme discomfort as Kimberly unknowing pulled on his bad leg. The sapling was bending alarmingly and they heard the first ominous crack as it began to give way under their combined weights. He glimpsed the sheer only slightly less than vertical cliff beneath them, his skin going cold and his mouth dry with fear at the height. Kim looked oddly calm as she looked up at him, her brown hair flickering across her face in the breeze.

"It won't support us both" She looked down at the rocky precipitous slope below. "Maybe it is better this way.."

Skye felt her fingers loosen their grip and was horrified as he realised what she intended. He scrabbled desperately to reach her with his hands without a hope of succeeding.

"Kim No!" he yelled and twisted violently as she let go and tumbled away in a cascade of sharp rocks and a strange unprotesting silence.

"Noooo!" screamed Skye frantically reaching after her, reached not just with his hands but with his whole being in an instinctive need. There was a flare of bright, bright light from the Star Crystal. Kimberly's freefalling body vanished midair then reappeared at the base of the cliff and Skye's rigid yearning reach collapsed as he faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

__

The Red Ranger looked upon the scene as the group arrived to see Skye unconscious in a tree and Kimberley's body lying motionless at the base of the cliff. The Rangers steeled themselves for an outburst of unparalleled force but instead Tommy appeared locked in an inhuman stillness that was evident even behind his helmet. Eventually when Jason reached out to touch his arm, he ordered, in dead voice, Kimberley transported to a hospital and the semiconscious Skye to the Power Chamber.

* * *

__

There was a deathly hush in the Power Chamber as Tommy took off his helmet. The darkness had risen in him and was seeking a target to lash out at. The team stood frozen in place watching him warily as emotions warred within him. They did not know how badly injured Kim was but after falling down that cliff, it couldn't be good. The Red Rangers eyes lighted upon the unscratched though dazed artist and his anger crystallised, and found its focus.

"You! you were meant to get her out of danger immediately!" he vented in accusation, stepping forward. Skye reeled as if punched. (Billy understood then that still weak from the psi teleport he must be unable to block powerful emotion, either that or Tommy's anger was so strong that not even Skye's mental shield could deal with it. This was really bad.)

"You are responsible! What the hell were you thinking! I TOLD you to get her to safety! It was the first thing I said, Why didn't you listen!? Was it too difficult for you to understand that she wasn't safe without the protection of the Power? You might as well have pushed her off the cliff yourself...and for all we know you might have done that!." He accused lashing out viciously.

The tirade continued with the empath staggering back as if he was enduring a physical beating. The others were so astonished at this onslaught they did not intervene immediately until Tommy almost physically lunged at the white haired artist...and then fought off Rocky and Jason as they tried to stop him, and began smashing everything he could find. He held none of his punches or his rage and anguish back, and it finally took the rest of the team to restrain his outburst.

"Get him out of here!" he yelled pulling an arm free and pointing at Skye shaking with reaction " Before I do something I REALLY regret!....If she is dead....." His voice twisted with pain. With an inarticulate sound, the Star Crystal Ninjetti turned as if trying to flee and vanished in a silverwhite flash of teleportational light.

* * *

The replay ceased and Billy found his hands trembling. He was experiencing that chilling feeling they had all experienced when Tommy had been the Evil Green Ranger and been out of control...ye gods, Tommy's eyes!. He took a deep breath. Giving in to bad memories was not going to help matters, he needed to focus.

"Then what?" he asked.

Adam looked up his dark eyes troubled. "Then... After Skye teleported out no-one has seen him since. I couldn't find him at yours and all the scanners have been off-line." he said keenly aware of his inability to find his way around the Power Chambers consoles even when they were working. He vowed to himself to try and remedy that shortcoming as soon as possible.

Tanya chipped in. "Tommy has been out of control, even though we were told pretty swiftly that Kim suffered only a mild concussion and cuts and bruises, which seemed miraculous at the time but now we know what happened, it makes sense....he's been fighting monsters like he was suicidal. We've all had close calls watching his back over the last few days....and yesterday, Rocky had to save him from Mondo's latest and took a glancing blast that would have finished Tommy...he's in the lab."

"Alpha says he is stable, but he's been unconscious since it all happened. Tanya and I have been working on a way to bring him round, but with no luck so far." Adam said, and Billy could see that he was deeply concerned about Rocky.

"I'll take a look at him in a moment..." he reassured. Adam nodded, relieved.

Tanya cut in "Kat is ripped apart by this Tommy out of control over Kimberley thing. Jason is shouldering the brunt of the battles and...well he's not looking so good..the team is falling apart!"

"Hasn't Tommy viewed the record of events?" Billy asked as he fixed another load of connection. His wolf-spirit stirred within him asking deeper questions of why Zordon had had the viewing globe trained on the group at that particular time. No time for that now.

Adam coughed tiredly, showing the signs of strain. "Tommy smashed the place pretty thoroughly after Skye left - we don't know much about this place Billy. Tanya and I and Alpha have only just managed to get the viewing globe back on line."

He paused, ashamed "To be honest we thought that Skye had let Kim fall."

Billy let all this information flow through him, into his mind. What a mess! He had to organise his thoughts a moment and found himself automatically reaching for his mindlink with Skye only to find a gaping hole...a sensation not unlike find yourself stepping over empty air. Right first things first. Adam was watching him intently. Billy rapidly attached a few wires and restored life to a couple of the consoles. He called up the results of the tests that Adam had been performing on Rocky first and ripped off a print out.

"Alpha could you finish the final repairs to the technical data consoles. You'll need a replacement processing module - the existing one is fried."

"Yes Billy" Alpha said in a subdued tone.

"Can you help Rocky?" Adam asked eagerly.

"I hope so...you did good work here Adam, Tanya." Billy said scanning the read out. They had covered all the vital information and there appeared to be a pattern. He made for the med-lab, with Tanya and Adam in pursuit. He paused in the doorway as they saw Kat standing over the unconscious Blue Zeo Ranger, gripping his gloved hand tightly. She dropped it startled.

"Billy! Thank God you're back!" she said with obvious relief. Tanya looked at the Pink Ranger, at her frantic expression speculatively. Interesting.

Kat continued, oblivious "Can you help him? Please?"

"I am certainly going to try Kat" Billy replied. Rocky had been badly hurt, but he had remained morphed which had undoubtedly saved him. If he had taken a direct hit, or Tommy had, Mondo would definitely have had one less Ranger to worry about. But in protecting him the Zeo energy had been drained so swiftly, that its readily accessible reserves of energy were critically short, and the crystal would take time to replenish unless given the equivalent of a booster shot. His wolf spirit could not understand why his deliberations were taking so long.

__

When a Pack member is weakened, others of the Pack give of their own energy to restore them. It is simple. it said. Billy tried to explain the intricacies of transforming energies to be met by the mental impression of unblinking golden wolf eyes _It is simple_ the wolf reiterated and faded into the background of his mind. Billy sighed. A case of never mind the details, just do it.

"I need one of your Zeo Crystals" he announced finally.

"Here, take mine." Kat said before the other could even get a word in edgeways. The crystal flashed into her hands as she concentrated. Billy took the Pink Zeo shard feeling it's power pulsing like a heartbeat.

"Thanks...Kat this may leave you weak for a short time." he explained.

"Whatever you need Billy...just take it!" she said fiercely. Billy rapidly hooked up the Zeo crystal and shifted the controls on the make-shift transmitter

"Here goes..." he flicked a switch and pink Zeo energy began to flow into the Blue Crystal, and pulses of sapphire energy began to crackle up and down Rocky's morphed form. Eventually satisfied Billy shut off the power and unhooked the Pink Zeo shard and gave it back to Kat.

"Anytime now Rocko" he murmured quietly. Abruptly, Rocky powered down and he stirred. Billy allowed himself a small pat on the back for his success.

"Hey Rocky...sleeping on the job huh?" Billy needled gently.

"Billy?" Rocky's eyes opened widely, and he struggled to sit up.

"How do you feel?" Kat asked with concern, helping him up.

The Zeo ranger blinked and his face fell into a tragic expression "I hate to say it...but I am starving!" They couldn't help it, they all laughed, a little too loud and a little too long than the comment warranted. Obviously they needed an outlet for the tension in the air.

Billy nodded. "That's good Rocky, but I think you should take things easy to start with. You took a bad hit there. Kat could you take care of Rocky...?" he asked "I think Adam and Tanya need a bit of a break, having been up here for so long and doing most of the work to help Rocky....I've got quite a bit to do by the looks of things."

Kat nodded eagerly and supported Rocky as they teleported away. Adam and Tanya, their face lightened with relief prepared to teleport also, just as he was about to go...Adam grasped Billy's right arm.

"Way to go Billy! " he said simply. 

The Blue Wolf Ninjetti smiled. "Thanks....and for my next trick...." his smile faded abruptly. "Before you go...Kim is where?"

"In hospital though just for observation, she meant to be out tomorrow" answered Tanya.

"And Tommy is probably there too." Adam added meaningfully.

"Right, I'm going after Skye first - then I'll deal with them....you go on back. You all need a break!" They nodded and vanished.

* * *

Billy fixed the scanners and scanned down-town Angel-Grove for Skye - well actually for the Star Crystals' unique energy signature. He could not believe things could have gone downhill quite so quickly. A week ago when he had left the team had been on a high. With him added to the team as Blue Wolf Spirit Warrior, they had been thoroughly trouncing the monsters that Mondo was mustering. Everyone seemed to be getting on really well, Skye had been making friends with the others in their own right and enjoying his lessons with the Star Crystal as well. Then of course he had gone away for a week, a wonderful week for him, which appeared to have turned into the week from hell for all of his friends. As if someone had pulled out the key support that held them all together and the whole group had fallen apart.

The scan bleeped. It was as he thought. Skye had returned to the sublet studio flat in downtown Angel Grove where they had met.

"Zordon, I'm teleporting after Skye if you need me." he informed the Eltarian, before vanishing.

* * *

There was no light in the apartment or heat. It was empty, still, cold and utterly unwelcoming. He looked around unable to see through the shadows. He touched his spirit crystal and called upon the enhanced senses of the wolf. His friend was there...in the far corner, tightly curled in a foetal ball. Waves of mental pain washed over him, of guilt and despair. Billy found himself oddly shaken by this development. Skye had always been strong in his mind, his personality. He had been the one who gave support ever since he had known him. He had taken trips to alien planets, the Power Rangers and all the peripheral madness that went with being their friend without a blink. He had been a rock, to see him out of control was....very disturbing.

"Skye..." he touched him gently on the arm. No response.

"It's Billy...come on talk to me Skye!" he pleaded.

Nothing. Right well then, time for devious tactics. It had worked with Adam, and Billy was not one to turn his back on a tried and tested strategy. He shimmered into wolf form, and nuzzled and licked at the artist hands until he uncurled. When in the wolf form this behaviour seemed the most natural thing in the world.

__

Skye he mindspoke _Speak to me!_

Finally he caught his friends thoughts.

._Billy...ah Billy_ Skye's mindvoice was tragic _I've killed her....I've destroyed everything...the pattern has unravelled, the whole thing is torn apart!_ The voice was frantic.

Billy could not understand why the situation was producing such a negative effect. After all Kimberly was fine. Instinctively, his wolf-instincts caused him to put his wolf-ears back with concern as he considered the possibilities.

__

No...no...Tommy didn't mean it...he was upset and you saved her!

No, he meant it....and he was right. I thought I had saved her...but...I went to the hospital after...I could feel the death on her! Skye wailed, the tone of his thought conveying the absolute belief he had in that statement.

Billy was confused. _But she's coming out tomorrow, she's only there for observation...._

I know what I felt! Skye cried out with great force. _I KNOW death when I feel it!_ a dark morass of shadowy memories rose up from within him and slammed into Billy causing him to whimper puppy-like in shock.

He reasserted himself. "Skye! _We_ need you now! The team needs you now! If we are going to deal with this problem then I need you up and running....I need you...Kimberley needs you."

"But Tommy....the pain from Tommy!"

"He will understand...." Billy reassured, sure that would be the truth when Tommy finally saw the replay of events. "Now I want you to go home and make up some sort of cover story for my dad. I don't want him worrying that I've been kidnapped off the plane or something." 

Taken off guard Skye nodded. Billy shifted into his normal form and helped his unsteady friend up.

"That was a dirty rotten cutesy wolf trick Billy" Skye said in a voice rough with emotion.

"And who said Adam did the best puppy-dog eyes around here?" Billy asked rhetorically to lighten the moment.

"We definitely have a new world champion...." Skye said with a faint smile on his worn features. They looked at each other for a moment, and without the need for words or crystals Billy knew how much he was thanked. He turned to leave, wishing he had more time to talk this through. 

Feeling torn, he turned back and Skye quirked a smile "It's okay...go on..." he said. And with that Billy teleported away.

* * *

Billy walked into the hospital mentally preparing himself for his first sight of Kimberly since she had left to train for the Panglobals. It would be pointless to deny that he he'd had a huge crush on her...it would probably be accurate to say that there hadn't been a young hormonal male in Angel Grove High that had escaped her charm. Plus of course he'd had the advantage, or disadvantage of seeing her in all those skin tight Morphin' outfits. Trini was his true love, but that didn't take away special something from your first crush.

He knocked on Kimberley's door and walked in. He took in the sight of her packing her overnight bag and smiled.

"So you wait until I leave the country before coming home?" he said lightly. "Trying to tell me something?"

"Billy!" Kimberly cried out in surprise and hugged him tightly.

"Good to see you too Kim" he replied mentally apologising to Trini as his heart raced. "I'd like the use of my ribs in the future though..." he pointed out, and she smiled and released him.

"So how are you Kim?" he asked casually studying her

"Fine....honestly" she said a little too quickly.

"Uh-huh.." Billy replied looking her over through wolf senses. There _was_ something. Skye had been right, the wolf-spirit part of him reacted with despair, though exactly why, he could not say. He became aware that Kim was studying him with equal intensity.

"Wow Billy...you've changed! contacts yeah? And you've really filled out man!" she commented.

What she wasn't saying was how much his eyes had changed. There was a presence and maturity in him that she had never known before. That aura of vulnerability that he had initially had when they first started being Power Rangers...had gone and it wasn't just the shedding of the overalls for jeans and shirts. He looked like he had seen and done more than most adults ever had in their whole life time, and that it had left a mark of experience on his face. He had changed.

"You busting out of this place then Kim?" he asked breaking her concentration.

"Uh-huh...let out for good behaviour" she grinned, but the smile didn't touch her eyes.

"Tommy was here?" Billy asked. Why hadn't he waited? After all that had happened and the obvious emotion he had for her, he would have thought he would have needed a crowbar to prise them apart. Make that a Zord Uncoupler.

"He was.." Kim replied, her voice tight.

"Want to go somewhere and talk?" he asked innocuously. Kim blinked like a rabbit caught in headlights

"Billy? You are asking me to talk? you are Billy aren't you?" she asked incredulously.

"Oh yes...and you should see my dirty rotten cutesy wolf trick." he said and seeing her puzzled expression finished "Sorry, private joke".

"What happened to techno-babble Billy?" Kim asked at a bit of a loss.

"Oh I keep him under strict control and only let him out to play every now and then.." He said "We need to talk...and now!"

* * *

They reached the edge of Angel Grove lake, as evening sun touched the water in a breathtaking display of rippling light. They sat down next to a tree on the shores edge and Billy sensing the urgency of the problem launched straight in.

"Kim I need to know what is going on!" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Kim hesitantly fielded the question. Her guilty glance at the ground, confirmed Billy's suspicions. She did have a secret. Maybe...maybe she was under a spell, or put up to splitting apart the Power Rangers in some way by blackmail or one of the many other ploys that had been used to turn people against them in the past. There could be no other explanation for the complete disintegration of the team in such a short space of time. He had to make her see what had happened.

"Okay...lets put it this way...the Rangers have gone to pieces, my friend Skye has spent the last nearly two days paralysed with guilt in a darkened room. Rocky was nearly killed, and Tommy has gone off the rails in a way only Tommy can...and you need to ask what do I mean?" Billy ended forcefully.

Kim looked down, picking at the grass. "It is my fault. I feel bad about Skye....it wasn't meant to hurt him" she said softly.

"No I know..." Billy said quietly. "I saw a recording of what happened- and I would like to know why you let go?"

Kimberley stared "How...?"

"Too clever for my own good Kim" Billy said determined not to be side-tracked "I also have good reason to trust Skye's instincts, and he has told me twice now there is something seriously wrong with you."

Kim remained silent, but Billy could feel a barrier inside tumbling down, piece by piece. He placed an arm around her. The warm gesture obviously startled her.

"Come on...Kim after all we've been through...."

Kim began to weep, and Billy held her with a fearful coldness growing inside him.

"Tell me..." he said eventually. Though by now he was desperate not to know.

"I thought....I thought that I had been working too hard. I found it difficult to focus, I slipped in practice, and fell...several times like I did just before I left.. I had bad headaches...thought I had got run down. Eventually...Coach made me go to the hospital..." the uneven words came spilling out...." They ran alot of tests and scans...." Kim gulped and then said in a surprisingly strong voice "I'm dying Billy...I have a brain tumour."

The words hung in the air between them, waiting to be acknowledged.

Billy was rocked to the core. Of all the explanations he had considered for what had happened, an illness, a natural illness had not been one of them. When you could be destroyed at any moment by gigantic space monsters you tended to overlook the dangers that you were prone to as an ordinary member of the human race. He found his voice in face pale with shock.

"You're dying?!" Kimberly, so full of life and energy dying? It could not be true. Deny it enough and it will be a cruel practical joke he thought desperately. But as he looked at his friend again he could see the marks of this dreadful knowledge had left on her. It was true.

"Yes..I am...I came back to say goodbye..but..." She began crying again and Billy held her his mind racing, too shocked to cry himself. It made sense a horrible sense, why agile Kimberley had fallen, why Skye sensed death on her, why she had been throwing Kat and Tommy together....Tommy...Oh my god!

"Have you told Tommy this?" Billy asked gently, afraid of the answer. Please be no, please be no, he thought. She nodded mutely and the look in her eyes told him some of what his reaction had been like. Oh God, this was bad.

"That's okay...I'll speak to him later." he reassured instinctively wanting to shield her from further trauma and pain.

"I don't want to die!" Kim raged, "not like this!...I have fought, and fought against it....and...nothing I do makes any difference..."

"We will do something Kim....we will find a way..." Billy said hoping desperately that his words were not as empty as they felt. "Don't give up on me yet...most of all don't give up on yourself!" he said with conviction. "You were always the heart and spirit of the Original Rangers, and you always will be - you cannot leave us!"

"Perhaps...I will try." Kim replied, but her voice was bereft of true hope.

"We are here for you Kim." Billy said softly "I am here for you...." It would be a long night.

* * *

Later, the sun had set and Kimberley was home and Billy was walking back along the dark streets, the shock of the terrible news overwhelmed him. The numbness caused by the shock of the news se had dulled his appreciation of what it actually meant. They would lose her. Not her move away, far away but attainable, she would be gone from their reach forever, like, like his mother. There was no reason why this had happened, it just had and that was the worst part of it all! Where was the enemy to confront? To defeat and destroy? What could he do? He did not know how to deal with this, his emotions were a churning formless mass of shouldn't's, couldn't's , and might have beens.... He needed some sort of release. Without even a conscious thought he shimmered into his wolf form, and ran, and ran, and ran across the night. Eventually he stopped on the cliff top his wolf-eyes glowing with pain and grieved as a wolf, by howling his grief and despair to the listening moon. Tomorrow he would look for reason and answers, and maybe there was a glimmer of hope that he might find something, but now, for once, he let emotion flow through him and out into the darkness.

* * *

Billy clenched his fists slowly trying to restrain his frustration. He had started looking for answers in the early hours of the morning, and it was now mid morning and he felt like it should be the middle of the night. For someone accustomed to coming up with solutions to his friends life and death situations in the space of half an hour or so this was not a good start. He picked up the data he had been pouring over for the last seven hours and sighed.

"So Kim cannot be healed using the Morphin' powers, or the Zeo crystals." he half-asked, half stated.

"I am afraid not" Zordon said. They had discussed the concept thoroughly, and Billy had explained about why Tommy had trashed the Power Chamber, and surprisingly Zordon appeared to understand.

"I am not unaware of the emotional attachments between my rangers." Zordon had said "These bonds are...of vital importance in the development of the team, and Tommy and Kimberley's was particularly intense, though there is potential for equally intense relationships." Billy had blushed at that comment. "Nonetheless, I must speak with Tommy and remind him that as leader of the Power Rangers he must learn to curb his actions."

Billy had nodded, surprised at the leniency of the verdict.

Zordon had continued with his summation of their failure to find anything to work on. "It is a natural condition and embedded in the genetic level. The Morphin' and Zeo Powers supplement the natural healing processes of the body, they do not rewrite the genetic code - which is where this condition originates."

"We cannot be out of options yet! The healing capabilities of the Powers seemed like a logical place to start, there may be other ways." Billy said vehemently. He rubbed his eyes as they ached and burned with tiredness.

"I will search the data-banks for you Billy!" Alpha volunteered.

"In the mean time...I guess it is time to try and find Tommy...I really should have done something last night...but..." He got up. He gave a humourless half grin to himself. "Somehow I don't think my cuddly cutesy wolf trick will work either." he muttered.

"Alpha could you tell me where he is...?" he asked steeling himself.

"I have located him in Angel Grove Park" reported the little droid.

"Naturally." Billy said wryly programming the co-ordinates into his communicator.

* * *

Landing in perhaps the most isolated part of Angel Grove Park Billy began to wonder what was going through Tommy's mind, whether he really intended to lose himself out here for good. He finally located Tommy sitting hunched over with his back to him.

"Tommy!" he called out.

Tommy pushed himself up unsteadily and with a jolt Billy realise that Tommy appeared to be drunk. He was out of control, and dear god his eyes! Like someone had gouged the life from them. He was barely recognisable as his friend.

"Tommy..." he began hesitantly, asking himself what the hell he thought he was doing "Kim told me what has happened..I know what is going on"

"Really? Do you _really?"_ Tommy shouted, his eyes flickering with a dark fire of despair. "You know she's dying then?...well stupid question..._Billy_ knows everything! She probably came back so you could save her, she certainly didn't come back for me!.""

Billy was smarting a little under the onslaught and was about to retort when he was interrupted. _He is in pain_ said his wolf spirit sympathetically _All creatures snarl and snap when they are hurt. Wolves are no exception and even a lord of the sky will strike out when they suffer_.

Billy obediently bit back his response, realising on reflection that it was not so much him, but the whole situation Tommy was angry about. Tommy grabbed Billy by his blue shirt and yanked him forward, catching him completely by surprise.

"So boy genius, you gonna think a way out of this one huh? Where were you huh? If you'd been there to keep that _friend_ of yours in line, this would never have happened!"

"No one is to blame" Billy replied in as calming a tone as he could muster. 

Tommy pushed him away, sending him staggering backwards.

"How do you know!? Oh yeah you are genius boy, yeah- you've got all the answers huh? Tell me you can save her! Tell me there's some machine just been built that will save her!" Tommy yelled at him in a curious mixture of anger and hope.

"I can't do that." Billy replied softly with regret.

Tommy roared and for all his drunkenness there was no way Billy could have evaded the lightening flurry of punches that floored him.

"Tommy.." Ow...not easy to speak! "I'm not going to fight you...drunk or sober, you can beat me and we both know it."

"Come on... lets see that Wolf of yours Billy!" Tommy growled kicking at him. 

Billy suddenly understood what Skye had meant about not fighting back...if he did, Tommy would lose it completely. As it was the Red Zeo Ranger appear to only just be clinging to the edges of his control.

"I am not fighting" he said calmly. Tommy lashed out at him again wildly, but as his anger spun out against nothing he stumbled and collapsed.

"Why can't I save her!" he called out to the incongruously clear bright sky. "I would give up every ranger power I have ever possessed if I thought it would help her for even a moment...she can't leave me! she can't!" he cried out anguished.

"I understand Tommy, I really do." Billy said feeling again the tightening of the throat as he felt his friends' pain. And if there had ever been any doubt as to Tommy's feelings for Kimberly then this...this answered it all.

"Lets get you sobered up, yeah" he said softly. For the second time Billy found himself in the odd position of shoulder to cry on, and took as long as he dared to sober him up and keep him talking. He was acutely aware of passing time, from his own tiredness, and also of the fact that it would not be long before The Machine Empire realised the uncharacteristic weakness of the team. Realistically it was only a matter of time, and the Zeo team needed their leader. To protect them both he teleported them to the Power Chamber to continue the recovery process. Plus those barbs about finding the answer hadn't hurt any less because he hadn't reacted, and damn it all....Tommy packed a hell of a punch. Jason, now Jason was the answer, but something else was nagging at him, something that Tommy had said earlier.

__

Finally, whispered his wolf spirit annoyingly. Ah yes "I would give _every_ ranger power I have ever possessed." Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Ranger or...Morphin' Power, White Tiger, White Falcon _ninjetti_ and Red Zeo. He'd ruled out the Morphin and Zeo, but Ninjetti...his power? the Great Power. He had the strongest memories of that time line, especially now, and they had nigh on brought Zordon back to life!

Excited he blurted out "Damn it Tommy you may have just knocked some sense into me! Easier than knocking it into myself." Billy said his mind racing, chasing the idea down.

"What?" Tommy said blearily.

Billy ignored him "Zordon, what are the possibilities of treating Kimberley with the Power of the Ninjetti, as we did to restore you in the other timeline?"

Zordon hesitated "Inconclusive"

"Well not a definite no then" Billy said pleased. He had that old thrill of when he found the thread of enquiry that eventually lead him to the answer he sought.

"Billy it would be wise to recall that in that time line that there were six full Ninjetti, now, though you are a Ninjetti spirit warrior and have more Power than then, you are alone." Zordon cautioned

"I must find out more....of course Skye! He has the Ancient Mysteries of the Ninjetti." Billy said. "If there is anyway to save Kim with the Great Power, he will find it in the Ma'rai Sphere!" 

* * *

He called Jason, and could tell immediately by the sound of his friends' voice that he knew about Kim. He didn't mention anything about his speculation, as he didn't want to get any hopes up. He asked him to teleport to the Power Chamber. He was counting on the strange bond that the two had - and to be honest, if Tommy wanted to burn his aggression off by sparring then Jason was best equipped to deal with it...and might welcome it himself, by the sound of it.

Jason flashed in a glowing stream of gold light and took one look at Billy's swelling black eye, and bruised face and then at Tommy's semi-sober condition and understood.

"You should have called me before you went to see him" he chastised.

"You didn't know yourself then." Billy said feeling overwhelmingly tired as soon as there was relief in sight. Jason looked down, and Billy intuited that Jason had also taken the news badly.

"Jase, I've got to go and look into a few options...plus I am exhausted, and if I don't turn up at home soon dad is going to, in the proverbial fashion, have kittens."

"You've been up all this time?" the Gold Ranger asked, concerned.

Billy nodded. "I'm going back home...look after Tommy will you?" He prepared to teleport.

"Er Billy?" Jason interrupted.

"Yes?"

"You turn up at home like that and your dad is not going to believe in a 'tripped falling into the taxi story'." The Gold Ranger tossed him on of Billy's most useful little inventions, a portable holomimic device, that pressed on and camouflaged those frequent bruises and cuts they all received until their accelerated healing caught up with them.

"Thanks Jase" he said gratefully, wincing as he pressed it into place. "Call me if you need me." he said and then teleported away.

* * *

He teleported in to his hidden arrival spot just around from his house and walked slowly up his drive and let himself in.

"Billy? that you?" His dad walked through from the kitchen beaming. "Did you have a good trip?" Trip? It seemed like an age ago...so much had happened since he had left Trini and it had been all of..barely over 24 hours.

"Oh yes, fantastic!" he said truthfully, and then yawned. "Sorry dad."

"That's okay - Skye said he spent most of yesterday waiting at the airport as your flight had been shuttled around owing to technical difficulties. I admit I wondered where he had gone and why you weren't back." his father said understandingly. "I guess you must be tired, and it looks like Skye didn't get a lot of rest at the airport - though I wish you'd call!"

Billy accepted the gentle rebuke with a sense of relief that he didn't have to conjure an excuse himself.

"Sorry dad.. I will next time.." he promised

"So there's going to be a next time huh?" Hank leapt on the words eagerly.

Billy laughed tiredly "If I have anything to say about it. But I need to catch up on some sleep, planes aren't the best place to spend 24 hours...Skye upstairs?"

"Yes - he came back last night after they finally announced you had an enforced stop over.

"I'll just say hello" Billy said already halfway up the stairs.

* * *

Skye was sitting on his bed in the guestroom, apparently meditating, but the way his eyes moved frantically behind his closed lids Billy suspected he was having another one of his dreams.

"Skye?.." he called softly. He sat down on the bed and popped off the holomimic patch as with a sharp gasp Skye shocked awake.

"Billy!"

"Bad one?" the Wolf Ninjetti asked.

"Not pleasant - to do with Kimberley...what happened to you?" the Star Crystal Ninjetti inquired taking in the bruises.

"Oh.." Billy tried to sound casual "..Tommy was having a bad day...you were right about Kim." he finished heavily "She is dying...a brain tumour." He could just about say it without his voice cracking now.

Skye went pale. "I hoped so much I wasn't right...I hoped against everything...I have Seen horrible dream visions if she is not part of the group, if her thread is removed from the tapestry, many things will unravel."

"What did you see in your dream?" Billy asked feeling a great chill at these mysterious words. Skye had never claimed his dreams as premonitions, but Billy couldn't deny that there appeared to be some substance to many of them.

"Nothing" Skye said simply "A great nothingness where we should be, and then the presence of something so unnatural, against the laws of the Universe that I felt nothing but a paralysing fear of existing, and yearned to be one with the nothingness....It's difficult to explain, it's probably a symbolic representation of her importance..and by that I would say she is very important!"

Billy didn't quite grasp the precise meaning of Skye's dreams but he could go along with the sentiment behind it.

"All of us feel the same way. I have been searching for a way to heal her and so far only possibilities to escape outright condemnation by Zordon is use of the Ninjetti power." he said eagerly broaching the subject."You've seen my memories of the timeline where we brought back Zordon...I wondered if we could heal her in a similar way."

Skye reached out for the Ma'rai sphere, which had provided the knowledge to enable the Spirit Warrior Ninjetti armour to become a reality.

"I will probe the Ancient Mysteries" Skye said "but don't get your hopes up". He lifted the Ma'rai Ninjetti mysteries gleaming in their crystal orb, their fire livid and bright. "In the mean time you better get some sleep - this will take time and it doesn't look like you got any at all last night."

* * *

It was dark when Billy roused himself and got up groggily. He looked in on Skye who was still tranced. By the time he had showered and changed his friend had broken trance, looking dazed.

"Drink this." Billy said handing him a coffee which he took gratefully with a trembling hand.

"Any luck?" he asked eagerly.

"Well there is bad news and ...slightly less bad news..." Skye said slowly. 

Billy steeled himself. "Go on."

"Firstly...you did not heal or cure Zordon..." he saw Billy's puzzlement. "Your animal spirits realised that healing him would still leave him stranded without a functional life support - which incidentally Adam's Frog spirit pointed out, and your Wolf spirit offered the solution of using your Power to reverse a localised area of Time, restoring not just Zordon but the Power Chamber and his transdimensional warp tube." Skye finished. 

__

This is true interrupted his Wolf spirit _That one cannot survive beyond it's immediate territory, so it was best to restore both_

Billy groaned. "That wouldn't work for Kim - if we reversed the time aspect then it would just start growing again. There must be something else!"

"Possibly" Skye said warily.

"What?" Billy seized on the remote chance.

"Other Ninjetti can supplement another's energy, their healing processes by learning to actively project the Power." explained the Star Crystal Ninjetti.

"We've done similar things over the years - like what I did with Rocky and the Zeo crystals." Billy commented thoughtfully.

"In some ways and injury or a disease would be comparatively simple to deal with as it would be a case of boosting energy to her systems.... but in this case, it would be necessary to ...rewrite Kimberley's energy patterns, realign them on a fundamental level." Skye continued. "The energy required to do such a thing would be phenomenal."

"First of all.." Billy began "How could that be done?"

Skye lifted the Star Crystal around his neck "I think that...I could do it with this, link to Kim and rework everything from the inside out...._but_...The energy required...makes it very difficult indeed."

Billy was frowning "I see there could be problems"

"Uh-huh...and then some..this has never been done before, I'm kinda not sure if it can be done." The artist said 

"Well it is something to work on" Billy said speculatively. He touched his spirit crystal and slipped into their mind-bond _Now lets see what we can actually do!_

* * *

Billy sat, his mind in a quandary processing the information. The odds were not good at all. It seemed to save Kim they would have to risk the lives of them all one way or another. What type of choice was that? The more Skye explained about the process the more he realised the very slim chance of survival there was for either his friend or Kim as the focus of the plan. With the Great Power indeed anything was possible, but it appeared that sometimes the price was so high as to prevent it from being used. If the price to bring back one life was the death of five others...well...He shook his head.

He looked over at his friend "You sure you want to try this? Considering the odds and that..you don't really know Kim?" Billy felt he had to at least ask.

"If I can I will" aswered Skye simply.

__

But why? Billy couldn't help but probe and lapsed into mind speech.

__

She is important to you for a start - and it's difficult to explain, but she is part of the pattern....it is important that Kim lives I don't know why, I just know that it is! Skye mindspoke his thoughts laced with a strong emotion as he struggled to explain.

Billy nodded. "Now I have to ask Zordon and the others."

* * *

Billy teleported to the Power Chamber desperate for this sketchy plan to be workable and agreeable to their mentor.

"Zordon, I need to speak to you about Kimberley." He explained their idea's and was met with a lengthy silence.

"I am afraid I cannot allow this." Zordon said regretfully "I cannot condone the risk to the current team and the civilian population for the benefit of one person - however much I desire to see that person safe and well."

Billy was shocked at Zordon's pronouncement. "You cannot seriously expect us to stand by when there is a chance that we might save her...if Tommy found out...it would send him over the edge!"

"The team cannot risk themselves for one person" Zordon said adamantly. Billy was hurt badly by this. He was willing to risk all, why wasn't Zordon?. There was a flash of silvery light behind him and Skye appeared.

__

I felt it...Zordon not going for it? he mindspoke

__

No...not at all Billy said disillusioned.

__

Let me speak to him Skye replied stepping forward.

"Please Zordon...I think you should reconsider your decision."

"There is nothing to reconsider...it is a very difficult decision to make, but I cannot allow this. Kimberley is special to me also, she was one of the first of my Chosen but I cannot let my personal feelings compromise the defence of Earth" The Eltarian said firmly.

Skye pulled out the Star crystal and touched his fingers to its shimmering surface. "Let me show you why I feel that it is necessary to risk this much.." He projected the essence of the dream-seeing he had had into Zordon's awareness. 

When he had finished there was silence in the command chamber, and then Skye said aloud softly.

"Zordon this may be out of line, but did it ever occur to you that there was good reason for your special attachment to her? To any of your Chosen?"

Billy stepped up "Zordon?" he pleaded.

There was a pause and then the trans-dimensional being said, "There is a point where the destiny of one is interwoven with the destiny of the many...Agreed. If the other rangers chose freely to accept this danger then I will not oppose their decision."

Billy let out an explosive sigh. "Thankyou Zordon!"

"Alpha, contact all the other Rangers and Kimberly, I need to speak to them immediately." Billy paced up and down nervously awaiting their arrival and as Alpha announced they would be teleporting in, Skye hissed a warning and threw him a holomimic shield for his face. He had barely positioned it when columns of multicoloured light filled the chamber. They were obviously expecting a monster attack and were woefully unprepared for it by the signs of strain and despair in all their faces. None of them had been untouched by the news.

Jason stepped forward "Is there another monster?"

"Actually, I asked Alpha to call you here." Billy said trying to remain in control. "This is very important. I guess Kim has told you all about her... condition" he asked receiving solemn nods from the group, whilst Kim stood clenching her hands staring through them all.

"I've been researching all possible ways that I can, with help from Alpha and Skye for a way to heal her....we have come up with..a slight possibility..." he said cautiously, but even so, there was an immediate eruption of excited babble.

"Hold on, hold on...there are facts that everyone needs to know!" he said.

Rocky shook his head "If there is any sort of a chance we will take it, there is nothing more to say."

Billy fought an inner battle to accept that spontaneously well meant judgement at face value and regretfully failed to deny his conscience.

"I will not let any of you make a decision without full knowledge of the danger involved!" he said forcefully.

They quietened down much to his surprise. He took a deep breath and launched into his explanation.

"Right...we propose to use the Great Power of the Ninjetti - which requires the assistance of all the Ninjetti available. Now...This is where we get into problems. Firstly, there is a low probability of survival for Kim and Skye even if we can get the following procedure to work anyway. Bear that in mind. We believe that if all the nigh-Ninjetti can mindlink with Skye and donate whatever energy of the Great Power they can, Skye will be able to use that to rework Kim's energy patterns and eradicate this threat once and for all. IF this works, and I say if, because mind-bonding is not an easy procedure, this will leave these Rangers severely de-energised for a period of time. They will not be able to function effectively as Rangers. This would leave Kat, Tanya and Jason very vulnerable and Angel Grove's only protectors for a significant period of time. The decision is yours." Billy stopped, looking at his friends faces, seeing duty war with emotions.

Instinctively they all turned to Tommy for a decision.

The Red Zeo Ranger shook his head "I cannot make this decision. There is only one that I could make for good or bad and that would not be fair to the rest of the team. I cannot trust that my judgement would be unbiased in this instance." He looked over at Jason, and Billy felt a strange deja vu of the old days.

The Gold Ranger looked up at Zordon "What do you say Zordon?" he asked.

"I'm afraid this decision will be yours alone Rangers." Zordon said unhelpfully causing Jason to frown. 

He looked over at Kim standing brave and fragile alone. His resolve focused; he turned to Kat and Tanya, and with that instinct common to all leaders of the Power Rangers sensed which way their decision would go.

"Kat, Tanya?" he asked anyway.

"We are with you." Tanya replied. Kat nodded in agreement.

"Everyone willing to try mind bonding with Skye?" Jason asked the rest of the group. The remaining rangers nodded purposefully.

"Kim? You want us to do this?" Jason asked gently, afraid to offer her a hope that could so easily turn out to be unworkable.

"I don't want any of you hurt on my behalf.." she said uncertainly.

"Kim...risk is always involved it's part of being a Power Ranger....How many times have we been in danger over an innocent bystander? Being a Power Ranger is not a question of numbers, it's question of what is right..and what is right is saving a life if there is a possible way to do it."

Billy shot a glance at Zordon; that was what he thought Zordon would see. That was what felt right, not numbers and equations, but maybe he was being naive.

__

A Wolf knows what is right by instinct his wolf spirit contributed _and for more reasons than you know this is right, though no less dangerous_. Billy was oddly reassured by this conflicting message, and looked up to see what Kim's response would be.

Kim nodded, with tears standing in her eyes and a pale hope in her face.

"Well then...we will try it." Jason announced as if suggesting a walk in the Park and Billy exhaled with relief.

"Right then" he addressed the group. "Tomorrow all the Ninjetti please turn up here - make excuses for the weekend ...I'm not sure how long this will take. Get some rest all of you...we're going to need all the strength and energy we can get!"

### End


	5. Spirit Threads:- The Law of Wonder

**__**

Disclaimer: The Power Rangers (and anything you recognise) still aren't mine, they belong to Saban. Anything else is mine I guess. This is a direct continuation of Spirit Threads part one and should be read after that otherwise you will be totally lost! Officially it is number 5 in the Sun Goes Down Series. Hope you enjoy it! - Peregrine.

### Spirit Threads Two: The Law of Wonder  
by Peregrine

Billy, Skye and Alpha worked through the night, to transform the med-lab into a slightly bigger area able to accommodate all of them who were going to try to help Kim. They made excuses to Billy's dad by telling him about Kim's illness and saying that they were accompanying her to the same "retreat" that Billy had visited. Hank was very understanding, knowing how much Kimberley meant to his son. They also had the novel experience of ordering takeout and eating it in the Power Chamber. Billy apologised about the mess to Alpha as the little droid continuously cleared up behind them, but they were both aware they had to get their energy up. Finally they had nigh on sorted it, and were settling down to sleep as much as they could before the others were due. They had discussed the mind-bonding seriously.
    

"If we can't do it...it all falls down at that point." Skye said "But to do it they will have to trust me completely, and they barely know me."

"But they know me" Billy interrupted.

Skye nodded thoughtfully "Which is what I am relying on. Tommy though....Tommy will be the problem. He is so horrified by the darkness he see in himself he has not truly trusted anyone...or even himself - plus he wasn't best pleased to see me last time we met." he said ruefully.

Billy chuckled indicating his bruises..."Join the club!"

* * *

Billy looked up startled. Adam and Rocky had just walked in catching him without the holomimic shield and he had been so absorbed he hadn't heard a thing. They stopped staring at his face, which he admitted had just turned those spectacular sunset shades just before it healed. In a couple of hours with the benefit of ninjetti healing it would be completely gone, but he had been rumbled!

"What happened to you?" Adam asked aghast.

"Er..." Billy tried to think of a delicate way of putting it "It's nothing really.."

Rocky's eyes flashed. "What jerk did this to you!?" he demanded angrily.

A voice sounded behind them "You are looking at him" Tommy said his tones saturated with self-loathing, Kim beside him. The others were shocked. 

Billy closed his eyes. Great, so much for creating an atmosphere of trust. "Now calm down a moment - if we are to help Kim then we have to trust each other and you all have to trust Skye. That means good and bad!"

He looked around moderating his tone "We've all had problems, private, public and with each other." There was a general exchanging of guilty glances.

"Some of them we've worked out...others we have not. Nobody is perfect, and we should expect no-one to be perfect." Billy finished. Tommy still look downcast. Kim stood beside him her expression strained. Fortunately Skye chose that time to enter, looking serene in light pale greys, breaking the building tension. He had been meditating in the other room preparing for the test of his and the Star Crystals abilities.

"Why don't we make ourselves comfortable everyone?" he suggested indicating the medi-couch recliners "...and then we'll take it from there."

Skye placed himself on the couch to the left of Kim, and Tommy on her right, and the others arranged in a circular group. After a bit of self conscious nervousness, they settled down. Skye explained what he would be trying to do and finished by saying,

"Firstly I'll touch each of your minds and establish a connection between us -then we'll try for the mind bond." He pulled out the star crystal in full view and handed around tiny silvers of spirit crystal to everyone there to make the process a lot easier.

"Okay then..." He mentally reached out to Billy and slipped into their mindbond with practised ease.

__

Who next? Skye queried

__

Adam advised Billy.

Adam was suddenly aware of a warm presence in his mind and he instinctively panicked.

__

Easy Adam! Billy's voice said and the presence became predominantly sapphire in texture _Just let go..._

Adam turned to his meditation technique to calm his mind and he joined the bond smoothly.

__

Nicely done Adam Skye's voice commented _Now help us with Rocky_.

The linking became easier and easier with each person added to the group bond until eventually they were all connected in a circle of minds lightly touching each others thoughts and feelings. Under other circumstances the experience would have been exhilarating.

__

Well Billy mindspoke _That wasn't too bad_. There were hints of mindthought assent from around him.

__

Is that it? Tommy asked hopefully.

__

Sadly no. Skye needs to reach your Ninjetti animal spirits to wake the Great Power within you- which in Adam, Rocky and Tommy are buried under the Zeo powers. I have full access to mine, Kim's will not be difficult to wake but yours is something else. To do this Skye must bond to the deepest layers of you all Billy explained projecting as much in the way of positive thoughts as he was able to transmit. Nonetheless a wave of anxiety swept the group bond.

__

I don't know if I can do that Tommy said _We hardly know him...I'm not even sure if any of you could accept me as I really am..._

Echoes of concurrence rippled around him.

Billy spoke up _I have deep-bonded with Skye - he has accepted me for who I am and been entirely trust worthy with that part of me_

__

But Billy you are a... sweet guy Kim added.

__

Am I? Billy replied harshly _You think I don't have a dark side? Everybody does! You think I have thought or done horrible things? Skye accepted that part of me without judgement._

They still disbelieved.

Billy sighed _Then I shall have to prove it_ He really didn't want to do this, but it was necessary to save Kim. He would have to show them, in all it's painful detail what he had done to his friend on Phaedos, and the dark thoughts that had nearly consumed him and taken his life. It was something he had hoped to keep private. Skye offered his mute support.

__

You have all wanted to know what happened to me on Phaedos, to Skye - Now I will show you what I am capable of, and what Skye is capable of accepting...watch and learn. Billy triggered recall of the entire events of that time, echoed by Skye's version and watched the whole drama replay in graphic detail. There was a hushed silence afterwards and a sense of wonder. Dramatic reassessments were going on in their minds. They could not disbelieve now, and maybe they could understand some more of what had happened.

__

I understand now Adam said and mentally walked over to stand by Skye. Rocky followed without a word, and Kim having nothing to lose also joined them. Tommy however hesitated, looking at Kim, and then stepped forward. _For Kim...I will try._

Good .Skye said _Now we go to release your animal spirits and the Great Power...be ready!._

***

* * *

Adam found himself falling in darkness seemingly alone. He became aware of a presence beside him.

__

Skye? where am I? he called out.

__

Where should we be? Skye answered cryptically.

__

This is my darkness, this is me. Adam said in a horrified voice. _This is the emptiness that I fear people will discover in me_. He had always been terrified that someone would find out that he was...nothing inside...

__

Are you sure that this is emptiness? Skye questioned.

__

There is nothing here Adam replied stating the obvious.

__

There is you, there is me....you mistake potential for emptiness. Skye said.

Another voice, a strangely familiar voice spiralled out from that endless darkness. _From the Void comes all things, Everything exists cloaked in an illusion of nothingness to the unseeing eye. Open your eyes to the potential of yourself and you will see wonder!_. It echoed about him.

Adam looked around him again and in a pure smooth ripple, space shimmered around him, stars glimmered and shone in the darkness, suddenly it was a place of breathtaking beauty.

__

The Balance He said intuitively. There was a peculiar glowing green star ahead of him and Adam drifted towards it. It turned out to be the Zeo crystal and inside was the Frog frozen mid leap. Adam took Skye's hand and then reached into the crystal and gently drew forth the Frog with tender care, feeling a sense of joy that made the stars around him blaze.

__

*It was well done my young one* mindspoke the Frog, whose voice he had heard. *_I am released from the song of the crystal for a short time - let us make use of this time *****_

Skye bowed to the Frog Spirit. _I will meet you on the hill with the others._

***

* * *

Rocky was tangled in jungle vines that pulled at him and whatever he did he could not get free. Skye appeared next to him but made no move to free him. Then a snake rose from the jungle and attacked Skye and Rocky yelled and screamed but couldn't get free to help him.

__

Whatever I do isn't enough! he yelled out. Then it was not Skye in the death grip of the snake but Kat who he saw every day die a little in the embrace of a relationship that would eventually choke the joy from her existence, yet he was unable to find the strength to set her free. The image of Kat reached out to him imploring him to rescue her and he roared in frustration. 

__

Why don't you help me Rocky? Her voice called out desperately.

Why? Why indeed..._Because if I free you, I may lose you completely and I am not strong enough to stand you leaving for good._ He whispered in shame. He knew he should help her realise Tommy did not love her, but that might mean she would leave, and selfishly he wanted her there, even seeing her with another would be better than not seeing her at all. The vines melted away and revealed a large version of his blue Zeo crystal encasing the form of his Ape spirit. Realising this was a test he resisted the urge to run over to where the image of Kat was locked in mortal struggle with the snake. Instead he reached for the Ape in the crystal and released him by drawing him from its crystalline embrace. Abruptly the tormenting vision vanished and Skye remained as the Ape spirit stepped free. It roared a exultant bellow to the sky and beat thunder on its chest in a challenge to life. Rocky, however, looked at Skye, his usually open face filled with the naked emotion he had kept buried all this time.

__

You know now he said simply feeling oddly relieved that his secret was revealed.

Skye nodded. _When it comes down to it, you are not responsible for Kat's emotions, your mistake lies in not being true to your own feelings. Kat does not need rescuing, she must find the truth inside herself. Her mistake is being so consumed by someone elses feelings she cannot see her own. Strength is nothing to do with it - sometimes there is nothing that you can do, but let the other person work through a problem on their own._

__

But will she? She loves Tommy so much! Rocky cried out.

__

Are you sure? You have taken away the possibility of a choice from her. Give her that choice and you may find that she will have to look at the way things really are between them. Skye replied cryptically.

He touched Rocky on the shoulder comfortingly _I will met you at the Hill._

***

* * *

Tommy stood with in a tornado of darkness and light, which as he focused spun out dark images of his past. He became abruptly aware that he was not alone, that Skye stood next to him, watching the images, every detail, every sordid moment that he never ever wanted anyone to know about him. The Star Crystal Ninjetti was touching his heart and mind, all the secrets that he could barely admit to himself as truths.

__

Nooooooo! he cried out feeling utterly vulnerable, emotionally naked in a way that he had never revealed himself to another. The image of Kimberley, when he first saw her and lost his heart to her between one breath and the next appeared before him, bright vivid and utterly real and around them echoed his own voice repeating the same words over and over. Eventually the images and sound faded and Skye turned to him...not with hate, pity or despite, but with a warmth and respect in his eyes that astonished Tommy.

__

I understand.... he said, and with those simple words the relief the Red Zeo Ranger felt defied belief. 

Skye held his gaze for an endless moment and then Tommy pulled away and said,

__

I am all I have ever had, this part of me that no-one could touch...until Kim...and then the letter...I thought, that was the end of me....but I stayed only because I could not leave. With that the tornado around them became one of Scarlet fire and a bright white star of light appeared above them piercing the red.

__

We are inside the Zeo crystal! Skye realised _You put your entire self within the protection of the crystal._

__

And there is the Falcon Tommy pointed upwards - his falcon spirit restless even now, circling above them within the vortex. The Falcon stooped to his raised hand and kheed loudly, glittering bright

__

* Set me free! * it demanded imperiously.

__

I can't get through that! protested Tommy looking at the swirling wildfire barrier surrounding him. That would be suicide.

__

* Anything is possible if you will it to be so. But possible is not the same as easy and all things worth having have to be fought for at some point. You are MY fledgling, you should know that! * His Falcon advised impatiently.

Skye stood patiently as he watched Tommy war with the conflicting emotions inside of him. Survival instincts said that he was safe here, protected from harm - but he was also imprisoned by his own defences, by his past. The Star Crystal Ninjetti was desperate to offer, support, advice or anything but knew this was a decision that Tommy had to make for himself, to determine whether Kimberley was reason enough to tear down all his defences and leave himself totally emotionally open and vulnerable. Then and only then would he be able to access the Great Power. Tommy made the only decision he could under the circumstances. He took the Falcon and held it close to his body and then taking a deep breath, and a glance at Skye, threw himself through the tornado of flame. Gasping with the unbelievably real sensation of flames and inferno heat that had seared him for a brief moment, Tommy emerged from the maelstrom of fire, sinking to his knees and released the White Falcon streaking into the sky like a rising star.

__

*Fly with me fledging...for a time I am free! * He called to Tommy. Tommy found himself rising through the air liberated from gravity.

__

What about Skye? he worried suddenly glimpsing a small white-haired figure watching them from the ground below.

__

*Do not worry about that one, he will find the way faster than us all * reassured his Falcon. Flying was exhilarating, filled with unimaginable speed and freedom yet instead of being scared he was full of joy

__

*Of Course* said the Falcon *_You are mine, you could not live without these things_ * it said as they sped along through the sun-touched clouds.

__

I guess in some ways I must be a disappointment to you Tommy said despondently, thinking back on his past.

The Falcon squawked harshly in astonishment "_You have been tested, and have done well - there is a great part for you to play in the future and there could be no weakness"_

__

I am no where near perfect! Tommy protested surprised at the Falcons positive assessment.

__

"I did not say you were. Perfection can be a weakness, strength lies more often in the blade that has been beaten, fired and forged. A diamond maybe the hardest substance on Earth but it will fracture and break, or burn. Even your forgetfulness is part of me...we Falcons look to see future horizons ahead so intently, that occasionally we lose sight of the present". explained the spirit as they began to approach their destination.

__

Oh .Well it would be nice to have an excuse at least, Tommy thought allowing himself a small smile.

* * *

They could see below them a hill and a group of small figures standing on it's crest. They swooped into land, and the Falcon perched on Tommy's shoulder. He looked round at all his friends and saw in them the same expressions of wonder and delight that he felt himself to be wearing. Each was accompanied by their animal spirits, all except Skye.

__

Good. said Skye, _We are all here...now I wish for all of you to hand over control to your animal spirits, for it is they who will tap into the Great Power._

They assented, and instinctively accepting the merging of the animal spirits with their own bodies, in a way they could never have done if they had not set them free of the Zeo influence, albeit for a brief time. Then suddenly, though there was no visible change, an immense presence emanated from Skye.

__

Who summons this meeting? he asked in a soft voice that gave the impression of thunderous power and authority.

The Crane stepped forward "_My young one is dying, and it is not her time"_

The Wolf stepped forward "_I instigated this meeting, set this chain of events into motion. This meeting is my responsibility."_

Skye's Spirit nodded. _It is good. I was not sure that the hold of the Zeo crystal could be broken for it is a powerful force. This one has decided his choice already, but is it the will of each of you to save the Crane-child? You have been made aware that there maybe a price to pay?_

Each Ninjetti spirit nodded in complete accord.

__

"But there are only five of you" Skyes-spirit said in concern "_We have no hope unless there are six and the focus"_

__

"Why? Why did you let us get this far if there was no hope?! "The Falcon accused in bitter anger.

__

"Because I sensed the appropriate amount of Ninjetti accessible" replied the Spirit unfazed.

Skye stopped and looked to the sky "_Ah....I See...I summon the Z'eltari Spirit to join our circle"_

Out of the sky flew a strange creature, that could be best described as a glittering Amethyst coloured bird-dragon,

__

"Wyvern"said the Wolf in awe. But they were all more stunned by who the Wyvern Spirit possessed. A young, strikingly familiar man.

Adam-Frog stepped forward "_Zordon?!_ "Of course! A young, vibrant, undistorted picture of Zordon, how he probably perceived himself.

__

"Welcome Amethyst Z'eltari...it is good that you have come"

__

"My apologies...My young one concerns himself over much with duty, and still has not learnt the lesson that duty is being true to your spirit, not necessarily doing what you think should be right." It said and took its place in the circle.

Skye's Spirit nodded. "_Now I must ask what of your being you are willing to give_ " It asked.

The Frog stepped forward "_We will all give the strength of our hearts for the Cranes Daughter, but we can only give the Truth of what we feel."_

__

"The Frog as ever is wise" the Ape rumbled "_Therefore, I will give my young ones love as a friend, respect as warrior"_

__

"I gift that and my knowledge of transformation also in the hope that they may assist you" The Frog added.

The Wyvern stepped up "_I gift my knowledge of the Realms of Spirit, and my love for one who I regard as a daughter to me_."

The Wolf stepped forward "_I gift my young ones packbond, and the power of his first love, with whatever knowledge may be useful_ "he said. Finally Skye turned to Tommy and his confusion was evident.

__

"This one denies the Truth of his feelings for the Daughter of the Crane" the Falcon explained.

The Frog spoke for them all in a voice of absolute certainty. "_There can be no shadows and half truths here - all present know that he still loves the Crane child and will love no other"._ There was a murmur of agreement from them all.

__

"He fears for his heart"The Falcon said quietly and bowed its head ."_He believes it destroyed already"_

The Crane stepped forward, graceful and bright "_Then fear not, for my daughter though deeply buried keeps that love true for him, and will for ever more."_

Tommy's eyes filled with tears and the Falcon essence burned brightly "_Then I gift my young ones Power of True Love!"_

__

"Excellent! " exclaimed Skye's Spirit "_Maybe then there is a chance! Give now your Power to MY young one and leave us - for you are needed. Mighty Ape, forget not the words of my young one to yours, for if this fails then much will lie in his hands."_

Of one accord Billy, Rocky, Adam, Tommy, Kim and Zordon touched hands and released what power they could into Skye. Skye then took Kimberley's hand and drew her unresisting into the blaze of Power that grew and enveloped them both.

"Come back to me, Beautiful" Tommy whispered as he felt the mindlink burn and disappear.

***

* * *

Billy opened his eyes painfully- he'd forgotten to take his contacts out and by the feel of them they had been in far too long. He stretched and his muscles were stiff and sore. He felt lousy, weak, drained as if he had had a bad dose of flu. By the looks of it the others were just as bad...and Tommy..Tommy looked frankly terrible. He pushed himself up and got up to check on Skye and Kim. The two were in deep trance holding hands. Billy let the medicouches flat and drew them close together.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, his voice cracking. A glass of water would be fantastic about now. Adam groaned but managed to push himself up and Rocky moved and melodramatically put his hand to his brow.

"Aside from the fact that I'm gonna pass out with hunger" he said in a rough voice and got up too.

Tommy was awake but he seemed unable to come round completely. Billy managed to walk over.

"You okay Tommy?" He received a feeble nod. Obviously he wasn't okay, but then he had given the most energy of them all. "Just stay there and rest a while..." Billy said and then walked unsteadily into the Power Chamber.

"Ayiyiyie!" Alpha was busy rushing from console to console.

"Alpha...what's going on?" Billy asked wobbling slightly in his progress across the room.

"Billy you are awake!" the little droid said frantically 

"The others are in trouble". Zordons faint voice said "We have been in the ninjetti trance for over 24 hours" 

"A whole day? Damn!" Billy exclaimed aghast, adrenaline starting to clear his mind. "Jason and the others?" he asked urgently.

"King Mondo has sent down two monsters in that time, and numerous Cogs. They destroyed the first monster and are currently fighting the second. They have been fighting continuously for hours." Alpha reported. Billy looked at the Viewing Globe. The latest Monster was a really nasty creation and it was obvious that the three Rangers were exhausted and struggling.

"I have got to get down there!" he said aloud.

"Billy you are still weak." Zordon warned.

"I am recovering quicker than the others, probably because I am a full Ninjetti....I must try." He clutched his spirit crystal tightly _Wolf Spirit Armour...NOW!_ Nothing. Time to bargain.

__

Revered one... he addressed his Wolf Spirit _There are those of my Pack who are in danger...I must fight!_

There was a faint touch of wolf speak "_This is part of being a wolf...but there is a price...be warned my cub, for you will be vulnerable, we have given much....and left little for ourselves. It is not wise to enter battle in such a state."_

__

But is was necessary...and so is this. Wise has nothing to do with actions that protect the Pack. They are by definition Necessity. Billy replied and feeling a warm brush of approval said aloud "Ninjetti Wolf Spirit Armour...Now!" and transformed immediately, but his internal monitors showed that the Wolf had not been overstating the danger. Well, he would have to take care, and be cautious.

"Back to Action!" he yelled and teleported into the thick of battle.

***

* * *

This battle was not going well. Jason was getting desperate, there were Cogs swarming everywhere, it seemed as soon as he decimated a batch, a load more appeared from thin air. He was currently trying to get a clear shot to get Kat free of a knot of the mechanical drones but was failing to do so. The Monster yesterday had been difficult to deal with but they had managed it, but in doing so had revealed how weak they were. Since then it had been a nightmare, with Mondo sending down Cog swarm after cog swarm as if he couldn't believe his luck, and then finally sending down one of his really unpleasant monsters to not take any chances in finishing them off. The Poltertron specialised in throwing things violently - which had been all of them repeatedly at various points in the combat. Billy's holomimic patches would be in great demand, if they ever got through this one. Suddenly, in a sapphire blue flash of light the fearsome visage of the Blue Wolf Spirit Ninjetti appeared, eye's blazing electric blue in protective anger.

Billy's voice shouted "Spirit Claws!" and Jason saw them flash forward and Billy leap forward tearing the thick crowd of cogs into chunks of scrap metal to get to Kat and Tanya. He reached them and helped the Pink Ranger to her feet.

"Billy! Am I glad to see you!" Tanya said a trifle breathlessly joining them.

"Jason's in trouble!" she pointed. The two Zeo Rangers somersaulted to assist the Gold Ranger who had been lifted by Poltertron high into the air.

"I'll get him!" Kat yelled "Boost me!"

As Jason began to drop to the ground at accelerated speed, the Wolf Ninjetti and the Yellow Ranger boosted Kat into the air who snatched Jason from the Poltertron's control and landed in a slightly less painful fashion.

"Oof!" grunted Jason as they landed. The four of them then formed up into a defensive group.

"Good timing Billy - are the others on the way?" he asked hopefully.

"I am not entirely sure about their current combat capabilities" Billy replied absently. Jason sighed inwardly. If Billy had lapsed into his famed techno-babble then that probably meant no. The Poltertron focused it's magnetic powers again and without warning the Wolf Ninjetti shot backwards and slammed into a tree. He FELT that! He could barely move...under normal circumstances he would have smarted but would have bounced back in seconds.

"Oh man.." he groaned.

"Billy!" yelled Jason in concern He saw the blue wolf-eyes flicker and dim a little, and felt a sense of foreboding. That wasn't at all right. Billy had obviously come into battle severely weakened.

"I'll be with you momentarily" came a faint response. Abruptly there was a flash of blue and green and Rocky and Adam joined the fray.

"The Cavalry are here!" announced Rocky blasting the Poltertron sending an impressive shower of sparks scattering around, but doing little in the way of real damage.

"Even if they have barely got half a horse power between them." Adam contributed.

"Uh-oh..." murmured Billy - Klank and Orbus had appeared which could only mean one thing.

"Orbus! Make him Grow!"

Poltertron swelled to immensity.

The Zeo Rangers looked at each other "We need Zeozord Power Now!" Rocky yelled. 

The familiar rumbling of the zords assembling rocked the ground. but no Zeozord V, a vital part of the Zeo Mega Zord. Certainly Pyramidis would not be able to bring its full power to bear without the presence of Tommy in the battle.

***

* * *

"It's time's like this I really wish a Zord came with this suit" Billy said to himself wistfully. The more he watched of the battle, the more he realised that the Rangers really had a problem. The magnetic abilities of Poltertron did not allow any of the Zords close enough to use their weapons with any sort of accuracy. Singly, they did not have the strength to push through that force, especially with most of them exhausted. His mind raced, considering option after option, and eventually reached two inescapable conclusions. Firstly they needed Tommy and Zeozord V so they could form the Ultra Zeozord, and secondly they needed to get past Poltertrons magnetic blasting abilities.

"Zordon, Alpha!" he spoke urgently into his communicator 

"Yes Billy?" Alpha replied immediately.

"Is Tommy conscious?"

"Yes." reported Alpha

"Can he morph?" Billy asked the critical question.

"He is attempting to do so...." Alpha replied "But his energy readings are very low." Billy considered as Tommy's voice sounded over the communicator.

"Billy...I can't morph!" he sounded exhausted.

"Tommy..I know..okay here's an option." Billy began, thinking fast.

"Tell me!" demanded the Zeo Ranger.

"Tommy this could be dangerous, but we've done it before. Get Alpha to flood your system with Morphin' energy..which should give you enough energy to complete the morph. However, on top of your exhaustion you will probably go into shock in a few minutes - which should be just long enough to finish them off, if I can shut down the Magnoblast so you can get close enough. Wait until I send the word before letting Alpha do the procedure."

"I'll do it!" Tommy said fiercely.

Billy allowed himself a small grin at his friends predictable response and then said, "Fine...I will try and do something about the Poltertrons Magnoblast."

* * *

Taking a deep breath and with only the haziest of plans in mind, Billy blurred with wolf-speed toward the foot of the monster robot.

"Wolf-shadow." he whispered and shimmered away into invisibility.

Concealed he leapt onto the monsters leg and began a dizzying climb towards the head. He almost lost his grip when Taurus got in a shot - something which he vowed to have words with Adam about later, and the monster stumbled. Finally he reached the neck and a junction where, with a bit of leeway and wriggling he managed to slip inside. He gazed at the complex hardware and the live power running through it with an expert eye. Really, the Machine Empire did not hold much truck with imaginative engineering. He slashed at a live cable and speculatively eyed what appeared to be a main processing unit. With a total lack finesse he wedged the live cable into the processor- the resulting arc of power knocked him backward, but it did appear to have shorted out what he thought was the Magnoblast generator.

"Now Tommy!!" he yelled into his communicator. All he had to do now was to get out quickly. Easier said than done.

He clambered back through the smoke filled interior to the opening, falling as the monster rocked under impact after impact. Obviously his sabotage had done some good. He hauled himself, exhausted, back out onto the shoulder and glanced round to see the Zeo Ultrazord bearing down with all weapons blazing! With only a fraction of a second to decide his options, with a horrified yelp, Billy flung himself off of the Poltertron as it exploded, and tumbled through the air swallowed by the blazing storm of deadly shrapnel and buffeting fiery debris that was the death of the monster.

* * *

The Zeo Rangers powered down after one of their hardest won victories ever and Tommy managed three steps before his knees gave out, and Rocky and Adam were pale and shaking with fatigue. Jason looked around. Kat and Tanya were not much better, and personally he had felt much better than he did now. But...he had to be strong now.

"It think we should get you back to the Power Chamber" he said in concern to the Red Zeo Ranger. Tommy held up a trembling hand to forestall his friend from sending him away.

"Wait...where's Billy?" he asked weakly. They all exchanged glances.

"The Power Chamber?" Tanya suggested hopefully.

"Did he get out?" Tommy asked seeming not to have heard. He looked unfocused and dazed.

"What?" Adam asked confused. Out of where? Billy didn't have a Zord, so he was meant to be back at the Power chamber...wasn't he?

Tommy was becoming more incoherent "Sabotage...inside..."

"Oh my god.." Kat said, suddenly remembering the way that Poltertron had mysteriously been unable to use its powers. Jason took a sharp breath, realising the same thing.

"Tanya, take the others back to the Power Chamber and Kat and I will search for Billy." he ordered. Adam started forward to protest, but Jason overruled him with a look.

"We will find him!" he said firmly.

* * *

"Do you think he's okay?" Kat asked hopefully as they picked their way through the smoking monster debris.

Jason swallowed. "I hope so." he replied in a strong a voice as he could muster. Kat glanced at him sensing his nervousness. The Gold Rangers eyes were dark and troubled and she felt an unsettling feeling begin within her. Jason had a horrible feeling that Billy had been inside the Poltertron when they had unleashed the Ultra-Zeozord. He didn't want to feel it, but it stayed with him nonetheless. They swept the area diligently and Jason turned to speak to Kat to see the Pink Ranger standing stock-still, hand raised to her mouth to stifle an outcry.

"Kat?" Jason queried in a voice tinged with panic. He ran over to where she was standing....and skidded to a halt. Poking out from underneath a large chunk of charred metal, was a pale hand.

"Oh god." Kat said, and gripped the edge of the metal along with Jason and heaved it away.

"Oh...little bro..." Jason gulped as he took in the sight of Billys unmorphed body deathly still. There was a lot of blood. Too much blood. Jason had experienced fear before in his life, and as part of the Power Rangers on a nearly daily basis, but nothing like the coldness that gripped him as he leant over to check for a pulse on his friends neck. He was afraid as he had ever been in his entire life. He moved his hand desperately seeking a flicker of life. There...there yes, thank god!

"Is he..." Kat asked in a tragic voice. Jason exhaled, unaware that he had been holding his breath.

"Alive...just. Billy's tough" he said fervently.

"Do we take him to a hospital?" Kat asked. Jason leant over, and picked up Billy

"No time, Get us back to the Med-lab...we'll have to chance it!" Kat teleported them to the Power Chamber and Jason laid Billy on one of the medi-couches. He had blood all over him now as well. The metallic smell turned his stomach.

"Alpha!" he shouted urgently. The little droid rushed in.

"Ay-yiyiyi! Billy!"

"Alpha you've got to help him!" Jason muttered urgently, trying not to disturb the others.

"I will try Jason...poor Billy!" Alpha was moving frantically, pressing buttons and using scanners until Jason's head spun with all the technicalities. Jason found himself unable to take his eyes from Billy's pale face. This was terrible. He was the one who had made the decision to help Kim, when it came down to it. The others had mentioned a price that might have to be paid for trying to save Kim....What if the price for saving her was Billy's life? Had that been the right thing to do? There was a tendency to think of yourself as invulnerable when you had the Power, despite the cuts and bruises, aches and pains...that was nothing. A price to pay....please don't let it be Billy! he prayed silently. Absorbed as he was in his chaotic thoughts he was barely aware that he had been joined by the others struck by the horror of the sight before them.

"Oh Man..." Rocky said taking in the scene. "Is he okay Alpha?" Even he knew it was a ridiculous question, but he had to ask something.

"Ayeyiyie!! His life signs are....dangerously low. I am trying to stabilise him." Alpha replied.

"Is there anything we can do?" Jason asked.

"Unfortunately not." Alpha said mournfully

Tommy looked stricken "He spoke to me from within the monster....I should have made sure he was clear...I...I" Tommy crumpled into an unconscious heap, with Tanya barely being able catch him in time.

"Enough Rangers!" Zordon's voice boomed "I order you all to rest now.. Adam and Rocky will stay here and Tommy also...the others may return home if they wish."

They hovered uncertain.

Tanya looked around "You heard Zordon. He'll let us know as soon as there is any news, now someone help me get Tommy on one of those medicouches." 

The other Rangers allowed themselves to be ushered, dazed and confused to the spare couches. Adam and Rocky despite their concerns were so exhausted that they fell asleep within moments. Jason, who was determined not to sleep until he was sure that Billy was out of danger, sat on the couch next to his friend and without meaning too, dozed fitfully

***

* * *

Jason dreamed dark, dark dreams of fear. The Wolf snarled at him as he grabbed it stopping it from jumping into a dark abyss. He was fighting Poltertron again and when he tried to morph nothing happened. The Gold Power staff appeared out of his reach, and as he ran after it, but the ground split before him

__

No..it was never meant for you a deep voice echoed.

Jason felt crushed _But Billy couldn't take it either!_ he protested. _Never meant to be used this way_ the voice said. The staff streamed into golden light that swirled around him but then shot off into the sky. The Wolf returned fixing him with a soul-piercing gaze.

__

One of us, but not yet. He walked away. Then he was back surrounded by smoking monster debris and standing over Billy's body and this time...when he bent down to feel for a pulse, there was nothing...

He shot awake with a gasp reliving that moment in horrifying detail. Silently he berated himself for falling asleep whilst his friend could be dying. He looked around him. There were six of them laid out in the medical centre, what a complete disaster. Damn, when had it ever been this bad? The equivalent of a complete team out of action because of their attempt to save one person..in an effort that might yet fail. Does that mean it was wrong? It was ironic that the nearest they had ever been to a total collapse of the team had not been caused by a villain or a spell, or any external agency, but by their own decision. He sighed again. Alpha entered the room again and he sat up.

"Alpha...how is Billy?" he asked urgently.

"Zordon and I have managed to stabilise his life signs" the little droid reported. "It is fortunate that Billy had stocked this new medical facility with compatible blood for all the current Rangers including himself."

"He did that? Will he be all right?" Jason asked mulling over that information.

"We hope so" Zordon said quietly. Even he sounded tired. "As soon as he regains enough energy his Ninjetti healing abilities will begin to restore his body. He had very low energy when he went into battle and was not protected sufficiently from physical harm"

"Good...what about the others?" Jason questioned relieved that things were not quite so bad.

"They will be fine when they wake."

"Skye and Kim?"

There was a pause before Zordon replied "Of their progress we are not sure but their condition is also stable."

Jason nodded. All they could do now was wait. And hope. 

***

* * *

Jason yawned. He was on his second shift on watch in the med-lab. Kat had spelled him for a few hours and Adam and Rocky had insisted on doing the same, being equally appalled with their inability to stay awake whilst Billy's life hung in the balance. Tanya had taken the next shift during which Tommy had returned to the land of the living. He'd been..."difficult" when he found out what had happened to Billy and that had been _Tanya_ talking! She'd apparently had to get Zordon to teleport Tommy home to cool off. Otherwise nothing much had changed. Skye and Kim were still motionless though according to Alpha their brainwave patterns were very intense. That he guessed was good news. He yawned and turned to look at Billy and blinked in surprise. There appeared to be a small figure hovering above Billy. Strangely it looked like the ZeoUltraZord.

"I must need more rest than I thought" Jason muttered aloud. There was a startled sound and the figure split into small pieces.

Jason leapt up startled. "Hey! Hey...what are you...things?"

Three of them spun towards him and hovered at eye level "Identified voice-print Jason Lee Scott" it said in a higher pitched version of his own voice. "Information access - clear!"

" We are ZMD's" They chorused in perfect unison.

"Zebeedee's? He asked quizzically

"Zord Maintenance Droids!" he was corrected.

"I've never seen you before." Jason stated.

"We were assembled recently" they replied. It was frankly bizarre to hear his own voice issue from these tiny robots.

The three spun forward again "Name Pyra" "Name My" "Name Dis" finished the third. "Our function is to protect the pilot of Zord Pyramidis by maintaining it's capabilities. The maker programmed us to protect those defined as friends." There was a chorus of agreement from the assembled Zebeedee's, in the voices of their respective pilots. Jason relaxed, they obviously meant no harm, but he was curious as what they did want.

"So...though it's nice to meet you...what exactly are you doing here?"

"Maker Billy damaged, energy systems depleted. Want to repair" Phee explained. Well that was interesting.

"Can you do it?" Jason asked eagerly

"Repair knowledge insufficient" Russ said.

"Will help!" Nix stated forcefully in Tommy's voice.

"What can you do then?"

There was a brief electronic conference and then Sphin said "We will improve the medical technology to enable him to reach the point of self repair." Without a pause the Zebeedee's swarmed over the med-lab. Jason shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what they were doing but anything that could help Billy and the others would be definitely welcome. In a remarkably short space of time they appeared to have finished their adjustments. Pyra hovered in front of him.

"Adjustments complete. Please activate facility." Jason obediently pressed the button indicated by My and was startled as Billys body was enveloped in a golden radiant light for 10 seconds, before it faded.

Jason blinked "Is that it?" he asked, disappointed.

"More in one dose would be harmful to the maker" Dis announced authoritatively "The enhanced device will gradually enhanced the makers energy levels at calculated intervals. At a certain level of energy, self repair will commence."

"I can tell Billy made you guys.." Jason smiled. Billy's techno-babble lived on in his creations.

"We must return to the zords" Taur announced and as if by magic they managed to disappear into the ventilation system.

"Man...weird!" Jason said to the silent room. Never the less it gave him something to watch as every 10 minutes or so, there was one of those pulsing aura's of healing energy. Each time he examined Billy for any change and maybe it was his imagination but his colour seemed to improve little by little. A few hours later, and Jason was sure the improvements were not just wishful thinking on his part. This theory was borne out by a soft groan. Jason was there like a shot.

"Billy! Billy bro...can you hear me?" There was a sharp pained breath and Billy opened his eyes a fraction.

Jason felt a wave of relief sweep over him. "Hey guy..." he said quietly "How you feeling?"

Billy focused and tried a warped smile "Like..I just...jumped from... a monster as it...exploded..." he murmured with difficulty.

"You had us all worried little bro...especially me." Jason said painfully recalling those moments.

"..sorry...others okay?...Tommy?" Billy questioned weakly.

"Everyone is fine...except you! Tommy is..well.." Jason stopped just short of telling an outright lie. He couldn't believe his friend was asking about them after what had happened to him!

"Not his fault.." Billy whispered and his eyes began to close.

"Billy!?" Jason said anxiously "You okay?" 

"Tired...hurts.." the wolf ninjetti mumbled. Jason relaxed. His friend obviously just wanted to rest.

"You get some rest, you'll be up and around in no time." reassured Jason but by the time he finished, Billy was already asleep.

Relieved and happy that he had something good to report Jason headed off to tell the other rangers, and then suddenly had another idea....an idea that made him grin to himself with great self-satisfaction.

***

* * *

Billy woke for the second time and felt marginally more aware than his previous awakening. He lay there with his eyes shut sensing the aches and pains of his body mentally cataloguing the damage - at least his Ninjetti healing was starting to deal with it now. Suddenly he was startled by a gentle kiss on his forehead. His eyes flew open.

"Morning love." a familiar lilting voice said.

His heart nearly stopped "Trini?!".

She smiled mischievously at him "You didn't think it was Jason waking you with a kiss did you?" she laughed.

He chuckled a little and winced. "What are you doing here? I mean...I mean not that I don't want you to be here...but..." It made his head hurt.

"Jason got special dispensation from Zordon - he seemed to think I might be of some use in getting you better." Trini sounded amused, but when he focused on her face her eyes were bright with unshed tears. That struck him to the core...all his physical pain paled into nothing.

"Hey.." he said gently "hey what's wrong? what's wrong?"

Trini squeezed his hand. "What's wrong? I have perhaps the best week of my life with you and three days after you leave I find out you've been at deaths door." She involuntarily tightened her grip causing Billy to protest.

"I'm fine now...really!" Or there abouts, he thought to himself.

Trini looked at him sceptically and Billy surprised himself by adding

"Now that you are here, how could I not be fine?" She smiled and hugged him tightly and he wrapped his arms around her, drawing strength from her embrace.

"Ahem.." came a voice from the doorway "I see Jason wasn't exaggerating when he said you were feeling better!" Adam said arching an eyebrow.

Billy pushed himself up. "Adam you've met Trini?"

"Oh yes! Jason introduced everyone while you were neglecting your social duties.." his friend needled gently.

Billy groaned "I'm too weak for this" he protested feebly. 

Adam flashed one of his famous smiles at his friend. "Great! I'll call up the others- this might be the only time we'll get to be one up on you!".

Feeling a little light-headed Billy laid back, grateful for Trini raising the couch to a sitting upright position. Much better.

Adam became serious "How are you feeling?" he asked "And none of these flip comments about jumping off of monsters...even if it is true."

Billy considered his state dispassionately. "_We came close to death - the pain tells you that you are alive_ " his wolf spirit murmured "_But now we heal as a Ninjetti should. In a few nights you would be able to hunt again....though in your case, young pup, probably only mice!"_

"Well I've felt better" he admitted, smiling to himself at his Wolf Spirits comments.

"I'm guessing I'm having a harsh lesson in respecting my limitations." he sighed. "The Wolf keep telling me that the pain tells me that I am alive and healing!" he snorted "I'm _really_ alive at the moment."

Adam touched his hand with concern seeing through the attempts to gloss over the seriousness of his injuries and for a brief moment, Billy thought he sensed a Frog presence brush him, which was curiously comforting.

"What about everybody else?" he asked. He looked over at the still pair of bodies lying across from him."Skye and Kim, anything happened there?" he asked hopefully.

Adam shook his head "They haven't moved a muscle." he said "Though their EEG's are quite impressive so Alpha tells me...No! You do not get up and look at them now!" he said sharply as Billy tried to sit up.

"Okay, Okay...You and Rocky then, you recovered?"

Adam laughed "After Rocky had eaten his third Ernie's special he pronounced himself fully recovered!"

"Three?! That's obscene! " Billy laughed helplessly wheezing with pain.

"What about Tommy?" he asked finally. Trini and Adam exchanged looks. Billy picked it up immediately.

"Oh dear" he groaned "It wasn't his fault though."

"We know that, you know that..but..." Adam shrugged "but you know Tommy."

"Hmm" Trini interrupted "I think that you'll find that he is transferring all his guilt and fear about Kimberley, which he can't do anything about onto you which he feels he should have been able to do something about."

Adam stared, unused to Trini's perceptive observations "You should be a psychologist or something."

Trini smiled "It's a possibility - plus I have known Tommy for a long time - he hasn't changed all that much, and neither have his feelings for Kim." They nodded in agreement.

"I should speak to him..." Billy mused. Trini grinned.

"What?" Billy questioned.

"I still find this wanting to speak to people...well....surprisingly refreshing. I remember a time when you rather have......kissed Goldar than voluntarily talked to someone!" she explained.

"It's a recent development, you haven't missed much" Billy replied glancing over at Skye. Trini noted the look and mentally planned to make a big point of speaking to Skye. If she ever got the chance.

Adam grinned as well. "Well Tanya will be wondering what is going on, and all the others are desperate to see you too so I better let them take their turn." he said and as he turned to leave Billy thought he saw the swiftest flash of concern as he glanced to look at Kim and Skye.

* * *

Billy was now getting bored. Trini was taking a break, all the others bar Tommy had been to visit him and he was quite frankly feeling a lot better. He'd tried to go out into the Power Chamber for a change of scenery, but had been summarily ordered by Zordon to return back to the med-lab until he was fit for duty. So he had had to rely on the others to entertain him - he had been very interested in Jason's story about the "Zebeedee's". If they had truly demonstrated volition and initiative then the whole incident was worth while. Obviously the design based on Alpha's neuronet had been successful, and the applications for the future were limitless. But right now he was bored. He felt someone watching him and turned to see Tommy standing in the doorway. The red ranger looked like he was not entirely sure if he should be there or not; his whole appearance reflect that uncertainty with his hair loose and wild and his clothes dishevelled. Billy felt a disturbing familiarity about the situation, and then it came to him, Phaedos the morning after. So certain that he would be hated but having to face it anyway. Tommy had that look. Skye had solved it by joining them mind to mind so that Billy would be in no doubt as to what he said....unfortunately he did not have that ability. He would have to improvise.

"Tommy...good to see you, how are you?" he asked warmly.

Tommy's brown eyes looked shocked "You're asking me how I am?....but I nearly got you killed!"

"Tommy you are my friend....and it was not your fault!" Billy said forcefully.

"Do you know how close you were to being killed? I didn't check to see if you were clear!" Tommy raised his voice.

Billy looked at him steadily for a moment "I know how close I came." he said softly, and Tommy found himself abruptly aware of the shadows in his friends eyes at that thought.

"But the decision was mine....I had to hope that I could get clear before your morphing abilities failed. I knew it would only be a matter of moments before the monster repaired itself, you had to morph then and finish it. I could not make that happen only you could." Billy paused for breath "I made that decision, the one that got me hurt not you Tommy."

"But if I hadn't been so weak..." Tommy began.

Billy interrupted "There was reason for that - you had the most to give to Kim, and _everyone_ made that decision, _all_ of us." Billy sighed as he looked at Tommy's troubled expression. "I wish I could do what Skye did and show you that I mean this."

Tommy remained still and silent and Billy felt a sudden jolt of understanding. He had had this conversation with Adam after his first battle as the Spirit warrior, and Adam had accepted the explanation and let go of his guilt, but Tommy was not following suit. The Red Ranger was holding onto more guilt than was covered by just Billy's near death experience. Trini must have been correct in her analysis. 

"It's not me you want to make amends with really though is it?" He said astutely. Tommy flinched.

"I think Trini was right....you are really worried about Kim." Billy said. Tommy looked over at her still form with his heart in his eyes and shrugged.

"I haven't known you to be wrong yet Billy..." he said with difficulty.

"I'll take that as a yes." Billy grinned disarmingly. "Let's save our worry for Kim and Skye huh?" he said gently and Tommy nodded in agreement. Tommy sat down opposite to him.

"Everyone knows now...that I still love her...but what about Kat? What do I say to her?" Tommy looked torn. Billy groaned. Kat, oh no...then his mind flashed back to the scene he had walked in on when he had arrived back at the Power Chamber of Kat secretly holding Rocky's hand when he was injured. Well, well. Now he understood some of Skye's cryptic comments.

"You know Tommy...I think she might understand. And you wouldn't be entirely fair to her if you were not honest about your feelings about Kim." Billy shifted position tiredly, wincing a little.

"I..I don't know Billy, I don't want to hurt her..." Tommy said uncertainly.

"Do you really think that she hasn't noticed how you behaved since Kim has returned? You think she's blind?" Billy said sharply.

Tommy looked mildly shocked.

"Sorry that came out a bit wrong" Billy apologised, mentally kicking himself for his lack of tact.

Tommy shook his head "No, no....you are right...I just can't help myself. I thought I was over her. I remember the letter and how much that hurt. You and Kat helped me then...I don't think you realise how much, but I realise now I just got used to the emptiness not filled it." Tommy's eyes were fixed on Kim for a moment, and Billy realised in a revelation that his expression was uncannily similar to the one he had seen in the mirror for the past year or so, an expression of loneliness and lost hope that had marked him until he had found Trini again!

"I understand" he said, and meant it.

To think that all this time, they had been following the same path and never really realised how similar they were. Both living an empty life because they were afraid of losing any more of themselves.

"I put myself into the Powers, it was the only time that I lived, really. I think I isolated myself from anything that connected me to her. I stopped corresponding with Jason and you....you most of all of those who were left. You were part of my history with her. Sometimes when I looked at you all I saw was us all together....I saw her in most memories I had of you." The words rolled out unstoppable. "I didn't mean to do it....it was just less painful not to be close to you. And when Jason came back...sometimes the only way I could stop myself was to be all business. I didn't know that I was doing it..." Tommy trailed off.

Billy nodded: he did understand "I did the same when I gave up the Powers." he commented.

" But you didn't leave, you stayed where it mattered. I'm sorry Billy. You have always been there for me...and when you needed me I wasn't there at all. Adam told me that and he was right. None of us have ever apologised to you or more to the point, thanked you. I'll do that now, and for what you have risked for Kim, and in doing so...for me." Tommy finished seeming more genuine in this moment than he had in months.

Billy was more affected by this speech than he would have first thought and nodded in astonished acceptance of the compliment, not trusting himself to speak.

"You think she is going to be okay?" Tommy said breaking the moment.

Billy hesitated,"I hope so" he said finally.

"But you can't say for certain?" 

"I wish I could. I'm not going to lie to you Tommy, the odds were never good even from the start." Billy replied "But Kim and Skye are both tough...they are both fighters."

Tommy brightened a little "Yeah, nobody messed with Kim when she really wanted something." Billy smiled. That was undeniably true. He then yawned uncontrollably.

"Sorry Tommy....guess I am more fatigued than I thought" apologised the Wolf Ninjetti.

Tommy shook his head , "No I'm sorry...I came here to see you and all I have done is talk about myself" 

Billy gave him a good-natured glare and then laughed. "You carry on and visit Kim Tommy" he said "But if you don't mind I'll be sleeping!"

***

* * *

It had been nearly four days since Skye and Kim had mind-bonded and quite frankly Billy was getting progressively more and more worried. He was now nearly completely better, as soon as his Ninjetti powers had recovered he had made a rapid recovery. In fact the only symptom he had was a tendency to tire relatively easily every now and then. He was growing concerned at the medical read outs that he was getting on the pair. Trini came in and caught him frowning at the data sheets.

"Are they okay Billy?" She asked divining his mind immediately. He shook his head and ruffled his sandy hair in frustration. She recognised that gesture as a substitute for when he used to fiddle with his glasses; he was anxious about them.

"This data contains many indications of potentially life-threatening conditions; they are severely weakened." He took a deep breath and indicated a mass of thickly packed alpha wave lines on both their charts and another showing a steep climbing line.

"Skye's energy consumption is off the scale,"

Trini nodded "You only have to look at him to realise that" The white haired artist looked like he had been starved, as if he had burned away all the fat and muscles, eaten away all his inner resources. His clothes enveloped him now appearing several sizes too large for his slender frame. Kim was not much better, she looked fragile rather than burning with life, but she was not using as much energy as Skye. And the energy drain had been increasing over time. She ran her hands lightly above his body, using the mind calming techniques she had learnt in Kung Fu sensing for energy balances, and felt the strangest impression that the Star Crystal was forming a vast vortex of energy drawing from Skye and directing it to Kimberly. To her alarm when she looked up at Skye's face a small dark trickle of blood appeared from his nose and then from his eyes

"Billy..." she said urgently.

He turned and went calm "Internal haemorrhaging." He picked up an IV kit "I can boost their IV concentrates , high energy feed, but even with the energy boosts from the medi couches they are using more energy than we can replace."

Trini frowned as well "It's the star crystal....it's sucking the life out of him and Kim...What if we take it off? "

"Then they both die! Skye was very insistent on that point!." Billy said worry making his reply sharper than he intended.

Trini accepted that information calmly and Billy appreciated her stability. He needed it. He didn't want to lose Skye or Kim, but he couldn't deny the growing feeling that they were approaching a crisis point and would need all the help that they could get. He could only wonder at might be going on in their minds. 

***

Kimberly had stepped into the light that had surrounded Skye and would have screamed if she'd be able to. The combined essences of the Great Power, pierced her being. This was more than mindbonding, this was a blending of energies, a merging, an excruciating intimacy of atoms...and at the heart of that dancing energy was the presence of Skye.

__

I am sorry Kim - there is no easy way of doing this mindspoke Skye, the tones of great strain and effort colouring his voice.

Unable to bear it she screamed out _Tommy!!!_ into the mindsearing light.

__

He is here with you Skye comforted _As are the others, in their strength, their love that they have given to you...feel it Kim?_

She could feel it but it was so strong that it frightened her!

__

I'm scared Skye she whispered.

__

I am here he said soothingly _Trust me, trust the spirit of the Crane, follow your own spirit so I can heal you from within..._

Kim felt her Crane spirit close to her "_Come little daughter_ it whispered _Your companions have given much to aid you but this must be your decision."_

__

Decide what? Kim asked perplexed

__

"You must decide if you wish to live." It said. Kim was startled.

__

Well of course I wish to live! She protested vehemently.

The Glittering eyes of the Crane seemed to fill her mind "_Do you?"_ it asked "_There is nowhere to hide from truth here...Look back and tell me the Truth"_

Her room - back at the gymnastics Centre. Writing the Letter. She thought it was for the best. There was no other man, no one ever apart from Tommy though plenty of offers on which to base her fiction. But there was that suspicion, that hollow black fear that lived inside her that she was going to lose him, that grew and grew the longer she was away, her fear of rejection so great that she cut him loose. And yet...and yet...he hadn't come back as he secretly hoped. Then he was going out with Kat and the pain inside had been so great that she wanted to die!

__

"To heal you must let go of death" the Crane whispered.

__

How? Kim asked grief stricken all over again.

__

"Let go of fear and emptiness and admit why you came back!"

Kim began to weep _I wanted him to see....I wanted him back even though even though I would die....I wanted him to love me again!"_ She felt deeply ashamed. 

The Crane shimmered and Skye appeared.

__

You wanted his love bound forever by your death. He said. _I understand now. Now is the moment, and in this moment you have what you wanted! Tommy's love yours now...you have him back body and soul and you know it. But the future...the future is always uncertain!_

__

I could lose him again...I don't...I don't think I could stand that!!. The words tore from her throat coloured by the raw burning desolation of her spirit.

Skye held her as she sobbed pouring out emotion that swirled around them in painful colours. After an long, long time Skye, his face mirroring her anguish said ,_Kimberly, you never lost him the first time. He does not love Kat as he loves you. He cares for her deeply, loves her as a friend but you heard his Falcon spirit....and they always tell the Truth. You are his True Love._

__

How do you know this? she asked sceptically.

__

I have touched his heart and mind he replied simply. _These words, this poem fragment, he held in his mind with his memories of when he first met you._

"The law of Wonder rules my life at last  
I burn each second of my life to love  
Each second of my life burns out in love  
In each leaping second love lives afresh."

Kimberly paused astonished that Tommy, her Tommy could hold within him that depth of emotion and she not realise that it was truly meant for her.

__

But even True Love goes astray, Kim pointed out.

Skye sighed _Yes...it can, it can bind two souls together so tightly that Death means nothing and in their unity they are greater than they are apart or it can tear them apart and reduce them to shadows of life. ...But Kim, Kim...You must brave the shadows to reach your star, risk pain to gain Love. Each is inherent in the other._ he paused. _The choice is yours!_

Kim hesitated struck mute. Skye pushed her for an answer.

"Your decision Kim. Is what you have now all that you want or do you risk all for what might be? Life or death Kim?

Kim agonised. It should be easy...it should be! But it was so easy to live in the past, in memories that could not be taken from her, that would not vanish. It would be easier just to let nature take it's course, to go into the darkness with the knowledge of that flame inside her, not to gamble that she might be plunged into a living darkness without hope of Love. But...she had never been the one to take the easy road. She understood if something was worth having it was worth fighting for, as a Power Ranger, as a gymnast as a product of her family break up, she fought for one reason or other. She was not afraid of pain, and she was not afraid of Love and she was not afraid of Life!

"Life! I choose Life!" She shouted. The words echoed

__

Now it truly begins Skye said. Kimberly felt like she had been swept up into a cold darkness and the only light was a glowing Skye. 

He paused and reached for her. _My life to yours, my energy to yours that you may heal and live once more_

His form seemed to dissolve into glittering light from the hands upwards and the resulting stream of energy poured into her instinctive flinching body.

* * *

An eternity of time in the darkness, an eternity alone, feeling her energies twist and change inside. She screamed out for her friends in loneliness and pain. She could no longer feel Skye's presence and felt he had perished trying to save her...she could not feel her animal spirit, she could not feel the Great Power, there was nothing, just unending void. She was exhausted beyond belief, despair filled her mind. Abruptly with a wrenching tearing sensation...faint wisps of light began to emanate from her being, coalescing in a faint shape, translucent and pale.

__

I have done it.... the words came soft as moonlight. He began to fade away and Skye felt a peculiar sympathetic fading within herself.

__

Skye no! She panicked and reached for him, willing some of her strength to him feeling herself drain as he began to reappear.

__

Too little strength left to..get.. the Star Crystal Ninjetti appeared to be fading before her eyes.

__

We will get back! Kim said forcefully _I am not going to die now that I've been given a chance at life again!_.

***

* * *

Alarms were wailing in the medlab and Billy skidded to a halt in front of the two still bodies.

"Alpha!" he shouted scrabbling frantically for their equivalent of a crash cart. Trini ran in followed by Tommy.

"What's going on?" demanded the Red Ranger in alarm.

"They're flatlining!" Billy informed him tersely, flicking the switch to charge the equipment.

"Trini, Tommy...start CPR....now...." Billy ordered. "oneone thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand..."

Trini start on Skye and Tommy mimicked her on Kim. Billy waited for the paddles charge.

"Clear!" he yelled, doing one and then the other....again....and again...again! No pulse. He was not going to lose them.! After all they had been through, he was not going to lose them now!

"Alpha the adrenaline..." he ordered, taking over from Trini for a moment ,who was tiring. 

Tommy was so intent on his task that he was barely aware of them. Alpha rushed in with the large hypodermics and gave them to Billy. Too caught up in the moment to panic Billy slipped the needle in exactly as it described in the text books he had read and moments later...

"I've got a pulse!" Tommy shouted exultantly

"Here too!" Thready and weak though. Billy still felt they were in danger. The hair prickled on the back of his neck.

His wolf spirit growled warningly. "_Your soul-brother and the Crane-daughter are lost in the darkness....they need to find their way home!_ "The need was urgent...he grabbed Tommys hand and Trini's and placed them over the Star Crystal on Skye's chest.

"You've got to help call them back...call them home!" he explained quickly. A feeling of great warmth pulsed into them and they were suddenly floating in darkness.

__

Kim!? Skye?! Billy shouted. The words were swallowed by the void. Tommy and Trini followed suit, to no avail. Billy tried to wolf sense for them but to no avail. He began to wonder if their energies had been lost forever. He looked over at Tommy afraid to say the words. "Tommy...I think..."

The Zeo Ranger turned and with a will so intense he appeared burning with flames said "I _will not_ let Kim go!!" 

He turned and again, as in the depths of the mindbonding, he blazed with a pure white light and shouted out her name in such a mighty voice that Trini and Billy found themselves instinctively adding their voices to the cry. 

Kim looked up still maintaining a grip on Skye's energies, or was it Skye maintaining a grip on hers? She wasn't sure. A merest wisp of sound has spiralled out of the shadows to brush past her.

"Did you hear that?" she asked excitedly.

Skye nodded weakly.

"That sounded like Tommy" Kim said with complete assurance. "Tommy?!" she cried out. She thought...she thought she could see something glowing in the distance.

"Kimberly!" came a joyous response and a light like a star blazed ahead of them. Kim flew towards it as if drawn to a lifesaving beacon, straight into Tommy's arms- whilst Skye collapsed weakly against Trini and Billy.

"It's okay you're home now." reassured Billy marvelling that his friend was still together. He released his grip on the Star Crystal.

They were back in the Power Chamber blinking under the harsh lights, and there was a brief stunned pause before there was a small cough from Kimberley and her dark eyes flickered open. Without even having to look around she reached out for Tommy who was there, hugging her close. Trini and Billy cleaned the small trickles of blood from Skyes nose and eyes and he awoke coughing painfully.

"Did it...did it work?" he gasped out.

Billy picked up a medical scanner and swiftly scanned Kimberley, a little difficult with Tommy refusing to let her go.

He looked at the reading and grinned exultantly. "Congratulations! the tumour is completely gone!" 

Kim began to laugh and cry at the same time as did Tommy. 

Skye looked up into Trini's wondering eyes and said "Thank God." before letting his own eyes close into genuine sleep.

"Will he be alright?" Trini asked, tired herself.

"The danger is past, he needs time to recover" Billy said feeling shaky as well, but unable to rest until he was sure everything was all right. He turned to check his friends vital signs in more detail.

"I can't believe this has happened, I can't believe you are actually cured! How can this have happened?" Tommy exclaimed his eyes bright gazing at Kim as if scared she would melt away from his embrace like an insubstantial dream figment. Kim returned his look, no barriers, no holding back, all her love so long repressed now free in her dark eyes. She reached out and brushed a stray wisp of his hair that had struggled loose in the frantic climax of her "rescue" from in front of his face.

"The Law of Wonder rules...." she replied softly with the curve of a smile on her lips. Tommy's eyes widened in surprise, and then a smile of recognition dawned and with that they kissed as if trying to make up for the months of pain and separation their absence had caused each other.

Billy's attention was attracted by a tug on his sleeve by Trini. He turned and saw Tommy and Kim locked in a joyous embrace. Had it been worth it? He looked at Kim and Tommy, reunited again and smiled. Despite everything, despite their peril, his own near death it was worth it all to see that love rekindled. He looked again at Trini and saw the same thoughts in her eyes. He understood where Tommy's strength had come from. He would have done the same for Trini, and he had no doubt that she would have done the same for him. Would there be a force strong enough anywhere to pull them apart?

__

"Not even a Zord Uncoupler" his Wolf spirit contributed, laughter in its voice and then added meaningfully "_They set a good example for the Pack_ "

"_And who am I to deny the advice of my animal spirit- paticularly if she has a glossy coat and very bright eyes?_" Billy asked himself rhetorically before turning to Trini with a mischievous smile on his face. Time to do some rekindling of his own.

***

* * *

"Well I wanted to lose a little weight" Skye said ruefully as he finally got up. He examined his body's wasted state in amazement. "I might just have to follow Rocky's example at Ernie's.".

Kat who was with him giggled slightly, almost nervously. Rocky's attempts to replace his lost energy had reached the status of local legend.

Kat seemed a little distracted and as Skye stumbled slightly, asked. "You feel okay?" though she knew the question exasperated him as he had heard it continually for the last couple of days and he had asked everyone to stop saying it!

"Sorry..." she apologised realising her lapse.

"It's okay Kat" he said "I admit I feel like a breeze would knock me over, just a bad patient I guess."

Kat just would not meet his eye. All he could feel from her pain and confusion. Skye gave a heavy sigh. "Kat?"

She looked up startled and for the first time he noticed her blue eyes were rimmed red from crying. Oh no..."Kat have you spoken to Tommy yet?" Skye asked tentatively.

She shook her head "I don't need to...not with..." 

"The two of them together glowing in the blaze of rekindled True Love," Skye finished for her.

"I haven't wanted to intrude." She muttered her eyes downcast.

"Sit down a moment Kat." the artist requested, and then sat next to her. He was silent a moment.

"Do you hate me a lot Kat?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him sharply "What? What are you talking about?" she said. "I don't hate you.". The phrase lacked conviction.

"If I hadn't saved Kim's life then Tommy would still be yours, yes?" stated Skye. The guilt shadows in Kats crystal blue eyes told him he was correct.

She sighed "Tommy was never really mine" she said dully. "I tried- I tried so hard to get him to love me...and it seemed like he did." Kat's eyes were filled with tears. Skye sat there and let her weep out her frustration, holding her tight.

Eventually he spoke. "I hear you talk about Tommy but what about you?...do you love him?" 

Skye's grey blue eyes glittered speculatively. Surreptitiously he touched the Star Crystal. Yes! Tommy was not the image that leapt to her mind first! There was a sharp pain of disappointment that it wasn't him, but then he knew that would be the case.

"I..." she hesitated. She had never really thought of it that was before. She had always been so worried about how much Tommy loved her. She's always assumed that she's loved him. Of course she cared for him, she cared for them all...it had always seemed like the right thing.

"I don't know" she said finally.

"Then who do you love? Really love?" Skye challenged. 

She shook her head drawing away from him.

Skye pushed it "You do know! Feel the answer in your heart, and _not_ what you think should be true!"

There was someone there. Strong, caring, open, stable....all the things that she wanted Tommy to be.

__

Rocky

When he had been hurt she had been hurt more than she could have imagined - but she had made herself believe the pain she felt was over Tommy and Kim!

Skye saw the dawning revelation in Kat's expression and he smiled. "That took less time than I thought" he grinned.

"I hadn't really thought about it before" Kat said privately amazed at the intense feeling of relief she felt at not standing between Tommy and Kim, and more importantly finding out something so important to herself. Then another thought struck her.

"Do you think he....likes me?" she asked plaintively.

Skye laughed "Haven't you ever seen him look at you? You wouldn't have to ask!". 

The artist held the knowledge from mindbonding with Rocky close within, but a little hint in the right direction wouldn't hurt.

"Really? Kats eyes glittered speculatively. Her lips curved in a thoughtful smile.

"Ouhoh...Maybe I should warn Rocky...unless Billy has done it already..." Skye added mischievously.

"Billy knows?" Kat asked shocked.

"I think Tanya has suspicions too." Skye added slyly "Mind you I can practically guarantee that it will come as a complete surprise to Rocky!"

Kat laughed.

Skye nodded and then became serious. "It's up to you now Kat. Follow your heart and everything will be fine. You deserve happiness."

Kat felt her throat tighten with emotion and lightly kissed Skye on the cheek to his surprise. He blushed, the crimson of his cheeks doubly obvious against the frame of his white-hair.

"I don't think I hate you _too_ much now" she said gently "Thankyou."

***

* * *

Not long after the Pink Zeo Ranger left, the Star Crystal Ninjetti received another, not unexpected visitor. This time, he was not distracted by mental emanations of pain and despair but was buoyed up by a joyousness of love radiating from the newly healed ex-pink Ranger that appeared to resonate in him as she approached.

"...Kim..." he said, barely stopping himself from calling her Beautiful as Tommy often did.

"Skye...." she hesitated for a moment. "I know you know how we feel, especially how I feel.....but Tommy and I cannot let what you did go past without acknowledging what it meant to us. You have given us both our lives, and more importantly each other. "

"You always had each other....I just gave you the chance to find that out." Said Skye, a little embarassed. "Still....you risked a great deal for us. I know how difficult it was and you had nothing to gain from helping me except nearly dying." she said feeling an immense debt of gratitude.

Skye shook his head "I gained hope, which is a precious thing in the face of darkness. You fought to live, and you did so and in succeeding to removed from me the shadows of the visions I saw if you were not with us..."

Kim looked startled, she clearly felt his intense relief as if it were a part of herself, an impression of a disaster averted."I feel that.....I feel what you just said deep inside. I am not that important!" Kim said aloud.

"Looks like our energies may not have fully untwined, but believe me, that was what I sensed about you..." Skye pointed out, musing on the phenomena. "Now you know why I did it, but I would have done it anyway if there was a way to save you, you know that."

"Yes, I believe I do." Kim said seriously. " Like I can pick up from the way you feel that all this has happened for a reason. We were all torn to pieces not that long ago...and we've been put back together in such a way, in such forceful conditions that it would be very difficult to keep us apart.... Tommy and I, Adam and Tanya, Billy and Trini...."

"Kat and Rocky..." Skye added.

"Really?" Kim seemed very pleased at that news. "Anyway, I think you are right. It feels like everyone has been lined up in the right positions just before the game begins."

"Exactly! Exactly what I've been trying to put into words!" Skye exclaimed, pleased and astonished that she could feel the resonance of his feeling so accurately.

"Whatever happens...you have my support and Tommy's. Tommy would....cut his hair off for you now if you asked him!" Kim said only half joking "Not that I'd let him" She added. 

She pulled out a large book from her bag. "This is for you. Tommy sent it, from both of us. It's a copy of the book where he found those words." Even the thought of them caused her to catch her breath.

"Thankyou." Skye said simply, feeling a sense of importance in the gift. The Star Crystal glimmered and burned as they smiled at each other and Kim, not needing to say anymore, left the Power Chamber to meet Tommy in the Park.

***

* * *

The scene in Angel Grove park was at once familiar and strange at one and the same time. Familiar in that all of the Rangers were there, and Billy, Trini, and Kim and strange in that the group was totally mixed up from it's usual pairings.

"Is it just me...." Adam began watching the group " Or is it just you and I who haven't changed?" he asked Tanya who was leaning on him watching the incredibly erratic game of frisbee in front of him.

Tanya smiled one of her warm golden smiles "If it ain't broken you don't fix it." She said feeling mellow and content.

"That's just it." Adam mused "Until I saw things as they are now, I wouldn't have even thought they needed fixing. I thought what happened last week was one of the worst disasters we had ever experienced, and yet out of it comes this..." he gestured, encompassing the feeling of joy that seemed to be seeping through the park from their group. The game was really not going too well because nobody was actually watching what they were doing, their eyes were too busy locked on their appropriate partner. Rocky was so intent on following Kats every move after she had stunned him by splitting up with Tommy and asking him out all in one breath, that he failed to see the incoming frisbee and it ricocheted off of his head into the lake. He fell over in a dramatic fashion and was gratified to see out of the corner of his eye, Kat sprint over to see if he was hurt. She could tell immediately that he was faking it when he grabbed her and pulled her over as well.

__

"It goes well" commented Billy's Wolf Spirit, as the Ninjetti Spirit Warrior watched half-laughing at Kat's attempts to get Rocky to fish the frisbee out of the lake.

__

You've set us up haven't you? Billy inquired, distracted by the way Trini ran over to assist Kat. The sight nearly took his breath away. _You and all the other animal spirits?_

__

"Somebody had to. Your human brain seems to shut down when you see a beautiful female. You would never get anywhere if it weren't for us." The wolf-spirit replied managing to give the impression that it was smiling.

__

Huh? Billy said, having completely lost what he was saying.

__

"My point exactly" the wolf mindspoke dryly. "_The Path of the Spirit is hard, but the rewards are great"._ Some slight hint in the spirits voice alerted Billy that something was being held back from him. 

__

What is it that you are not telling me? There is more to this than a fairytale ending isn't there? He asked suddenly.

__

"This is real life. A fairytale ending only marks another beginning. The Path never ends, it flows onwards with time carrying those who follow it into the unknown". answered the wolf.

__

I hate it when you go cryptic on me! Billy sighed.

__

"You wanted me back, you have to put up with it!" the wolf stated huffily.

__

I know...I haven't regretted it for a moment. Billy mindspoke warmly, sending positive thoughts to his animal spirit for all that it had done until it regained it's high spirits.

"Hey Billy!" Jason yelled "Rocky doesn't seem to think he should fetch the frisbee!"

"Billy's the expert at fetching stuff! With that whole dog thing he's got going....." Rocky groaned from under a pile of people. 

"You want the smell of wet dog around?" Tommy protested in mock horror. Billy's wolf spirit whispered a suggestion to him and a broad smile spread across his face lighting up his eyes with a wicked gleam. "You know there is one here who is designed to go in the water who is keeping _very_ quiet at the moment......" he suggested pointedly.

The whole group stopped and turned with accord to look at Adam. 

"Oh no...no way!" Adam said shaking his head.

"Come on little Frog Prince...." wheedled Kim, her hands on her hips.

Adam scrambled to his feet and was about to make a run for it when Tanya grabbed his ankles and tripped him, leaving him at the mercy of the approaching group. Despite all his wriggling he was ceremoniously thrown into the lake after the frisbee, much to everyone's great amusement, and then revenged himself by splashing them all so thoroughly that they might as well have come in after it themselves.

"It's a shame Skye missed the look on Adam's face" Kim said as they all settled down into a communal soggy heap at the end of the eventful afternoon. "Well he'll be here in a little while, once Zordon gives him the all clear." Billy replied lying back on the cool grass.

"Well if he feels he's missed out" Rocky said with a delighted grin "maybe we should do a replay for him.... I'm sure Adam wouldn't mind!"

" Don't push your luck, Monkey features...."

"Tadpole breath..."

"Tadpole breath? What kind of an insult is that? Tadpoles don't breath...."

This, Billy thought, closing his eyes, could go on for a long, long time.

***

* * *

"So" Zordon began "You accomplished your task"

"Yes" said Skye "Though I underestimated the risks to us all....we made it through!"

"The Rangers have faced Danger many times" Zordon said calmly.

"And they will again..." Skye said and shivered suddenly. "You understand why I had to do it Zordon? They are all important - some will play bigger parts than others but they are all important."

"Do you yet know how and why? Zordon asked intently.

"No...I don't though I think you have suspicions" queried Skye, probing their mentor.

"Dark fears..." Zordon admitted "Fear enough to take any warning seriously however vague. "

"All I know is that it had something to do with the Ninjetti and what happened to them at the height of their Empire."
    

"That was before my time" Zordon admitted.

"Then the answer may lie in the Mysteries then" Skye said with a sigh. "It is very frustrating Zordon, knowing part of the answer but not even having a clue what the question is - seeing patterns, but not the picture..." he shook his head in despair.

"Do not concern yourself about it now " Zordon said reassuringly. "All of you have preserved the pattern for now- you have done well"

Skye smiled looking suddenly as young as he actually was. "Thanks Zordon....I just wish I knew what all this was about.!"

After Skye had teleported to the Park to meet the others, Zordon sighed and muttered to himself, 

"And I wish that I had no idea."

### End

* * *

**__**

Author's Note: Before I get asked, the fragment of poetry is part of a poem by Rumi (from his Rubaiyat). I happened to receive a book as a thankyou in much the manner I describe as I was writing that part and it fell open at that section. Who am I to go against signs and omens?


	6. Twilight:- Lengthening Shadows

**__**

Disclaimer: The Power Rangers and everything you recognise still belongs to Saban. Sigh. Skye Brannon however is mine. This is my sixth fic beginning the Twilight section of the Sun Goes Down series. It may help to read the others to give you a bit of background... otherwise, hope you enjoy it!

### Twilight: Lengthening Shadows  
by Peregrine
    
    Darkness. A galactic darkness in the depths between galaxies, in the void lit only by the far off glimmer of a spiral galaxy turning slowly in celestial splendour. Little existed in the gap between stars save cold dead rocks and sterile comet dust. One of these inanimate moons span endlessly in the perpetual night, span unaltered as it had for countless millennia facing the glory ahead of it with an unblinking stony attention.

Then a change. An essence of darkness, a shadow within even the Galactic void caressed its cold surface. Something had moved--between one heartbeat and the next the tranquillity of this timeless place had altered forever. It slid past, huge and silent, a shark in the night sea's of space, heading directly for the galaxy beyond. It had _purpose_ and where it passed unnumbered shoals of tiny slivers of danger followed in it's wake. The Shadow past, the dead world drew it's first and only breath. A light pulsed in its heart a warning scarlet red. The radiance grew beaconlike--frantic in it's pulsing urgency until the whole moon was suffused with the warning light. And then in one glorious burst of sacrificial effort it exploded, throwing its heart-energy to the universe. A wave of fiery light swept away into space, but it was the unseen faster than light message on which the celestial body had spent it's true force. That message sped ahead, ahead of the shadow, outstripping the light racing to the distant galaxy in a desperate urgency of speed.

~*~

Jason Lee Scott yawned as he wandered home from his date with Emily. They had had a nice evening out, watched a good movie and things had been generally...fine. But somehow "fine" didn't seem to be enough anymore. There was a growing sense that he was missing out on something somewhere. Maybe it was having Tommy and Kimberly back together in close proximity. One look at them and you knew there was a rightness about them, a completeness. Rocky and Kat as well, it was incredible how swiftly that relationship had taken off. He grinned ruefully; well he hadn't seen that one coming, not like Billy and Trini. But then they had all been waiting for that relationship to bloom for a long time now. It was a shame that Trini had not been able to stay any longer, but Billy teleported over there relatively frequently. He kicked at the curb as he wandered back.

All these couples around. Why did he feel he was missing out? Emily was a perfectly wonderful person and he cared for her deeply. But could he really truthfully say that he loved her? He shrank back from that question. He was tired, it was late, it was...he glanced at his watch, nearly midnight. He should have been back over an hour ago. Mind you his parents were still so glad to have him back from the Peace Summit he could swing it. He strolled onwards heading past Billy's house. Things had been so much better since Billy had gained his Powers as a Ninjetti Spirit Warrior and was able to fight alongside them again. It had to be said that he still had that distressing tendency to run off in the middle of a battle to construct a device, but that seemed to be unavoidable. Jason snorted to himself. Had there ever been a battle when Billy had not run off to construct a device or mend a zord or help out one of the others? Glancing across out of habit he noticed that the garage light was still on as he walked past and wondered if Billy was tinkering in his lab. On impulse, he turned up the driveway and tapped on the open door. Hearing no response he walked in expecting to see Billy hunched over his lab table or at the computer. 

"Billy? " he called "Oh...hi Skye." he said in mild surprise.

Skye started guiltily from Billy's computer. He pulled a device from around his throat and tucked the glowing Star Crystal back in his shirt and said "Oh hi Jason" trying to prevent the Gold Ranger from seeing the screen. His attempts were blatantly transparent.

"What are you doing Skye?" Jason asked suspiciously. It wasn't as if it weren't obvious there was something going on, Skye might as well have a neon sign over his head flashing "major secret alert". 

"Shush...don't wake Billy" Skye replied evasively, glancing over to the left quickly. Jason turned to see his friend sprawled, dead to the world, on the couch, a note pad with scribbled diagrams slipping off his chest, and a half eaten donut by his side dribbling jam on the carpet.

Jason grinned a little. In some ways Billy hadn't changed a bit. But he could tell, he could tell when someone was hiding something and he wasn't going to let go quite so easily.

"What are you doing Skye?" he asked firmly refusing to be distracted. "I'm not going to go home until you tell me and you know I mean it!"

Skye touched the Star Crystal hanging around his neck and sighed in resignation as he sensed the Gold Rangers determination. Jason could be so unmovable sometimes, like a mountain. He gave up. It would be a relief to have someone else in on the secret.

"You can be so focused sometimes Jason it's unbelievable...okay, okay if you must know I'm doing Billy's homework for him." Skye then had to smother his laughter at the absolute astonishment on Jason's face.

"What?!" Jason asked incredulously. Skye shushed him, pointing at Billy. 

Jason lowered his voice a fraction. "What "homework" can he have? He's graduated! And since when does he need someone to do it for him even if he had it?" Of all the unbelievable stories! Billy had never, ever needed help with schoolwork of any kind. He had tutored all of the rangers at one point or another and knew the subjects inside and out. So for Skye to claim that he was doing Billy's homework was frankly like claiming...Rocky had lost his appetite! 

Skye coughed a little, "Actually, HE is doing his homework, except he doesn't know it. I'm just the one writing it down. Mind you as he doesn't know he's got homework, then I guess it doesn't matter much that he doesn't know he's doing it!" Skye's grey blue eyes sparkled at Jason's bemused expression.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. " Jason admitted now thoroughly confused.

"Okay...this is part of his astrophysics' degree." explained Skye indicating the screen. "He doesn't know he is doing it, but he's actually been getting some really good grades."

"A degree? He's doing a degree.?" Jason was astounded. He took a closer look at the text on the screen. It did look incredibly complex he had to admit. But then he wouldn't know an astrophysical term if Mondo turned it into a monster and sent it after him.

"But Billy is barely out of High School!" pointed out Jason as if that would make what Skye was implying totally impossible.

Skye stared at him and then shook his head slowly and despairingly.

"Sometimes I really wonder about all of you" he said in mock-wearied tones. "How intelligent would you say Billy is?" he asked seriously.

Jason shrugged. It was not something that he had given a lot of thought to, they all knew Billy had the brains of the group...end of story.

" Well we all know he is clever. He was a grade ahead, and he graduated early."

Skye shook his head and then slapped his forehead melodramatically with the heel of his hand. "Give me strength!" he implored the world in general,"Let me put it another way--Billy understands Zord technology yes?" 

Jason nodded feeling on safer ground. "Yeah...he's built the battle helmets, the Warrior Wheel, the Red BattleZord...fixed them all up...but I thought that was something that came with the Power like knowing how to fight and pilot the Zords.....oh...." comprehension dawned. Billy hadn't had the Power when he did most of that. 

"Yes he did a lot of that after he gave up the Power. So what sort of level of technology is Zord technology?" At his blank look Skye continued. "Okay then...when did you last hear of teleportational quantum physics being part of an undergraduate course? You know anyone who has majored in transformational sub-space energy dynamics?" Skye asked rhetorically. 

Jason had to shake his head. Well hearing it put like that--it was true, there was so much of being a Ranger that just seem to happen as a part of assuming the Powe, like piloting the Zordsr, somehow it had been taken for granted that Billy knew about these things because of being the Blue Ranger. But then that would mean either all of them should have the same sort of understanding or all Blue Rangers would know Zord Technology.

__

No offense Rocky, Jason thought to himself, _but your answer to mending something would be the swear at it, plead with it, and kick it routine!_

"Think about the his inventions, the wrist coms for a start, all the devices. Compare it to every day stuff..." Skye asked patiently, waiting for the penny to drop. Honestly, it seemed so obvious to him, but maybe with them growing up with Billy they hadn't noticed, they had just taken it for granted.

Jason appeared to be having a revelation "Wow ...I'd never thought of it like that."

"Well this will make you think...he went to Aquitar--a much older civilised race than our own, learnt their science and solved a problem that has existed there for ages in a few months!" Skye paused looking at Jason speculatively "You keep a secret Jason?" 

The Gold Ranger, still slightly amazed nodded. 

"Come with me." Skye lead him, limping painfully up the stairs to the spare room that he had been staying in and the study which was now his Art studio. Jason looked around at the vivid pictures, many of them of the rangers, of strange scenes on alien planets, of ordinary everyday pictures and objects. His eyes lighted on a picture of Dulcea and was captured by her piercing green eyes that seem to watch everything. Her essence seemed to shine out from the picture.

"Wow.." He breathed. 

Skye smirked a little at Jason's reaction. "I'd like to think that was a compliment to my painting skill, but somehow I think not." He said. Jason flushed a little and coughed. Skye unlocked a drawer and pulled out a folder and handed it to Jason. He flicked through it in a kind of dazed shack There were certificates for all sorts of qualifications even degrees', Masters, and a PhD, all in the name of William James Cranston. 

"How...how is this possible?" He struggled to form the words. This had to be fake. There was no way Billy could have done all this, he simply did not have the time, though Jason had to admit that he would breeze through College. 

Skye tried to explain. "When I connect the mind-bond I have with Billy it allows me to tap into his mind at any given moment--so usually when he is asleep I open it up and using this subvocal computer interface..." he indicated the strange device he had had around his throat, "The work is done as soon as it can be thought. You would be amazed at how much ground you can cover at the speed of thought. So Billy has literally done all this in his sleep."

He shrugged his shoulders knowing that the explanation was probably inadequate. Truth be told, it hadn't taken too long at all considering, as Billy had a lot of research projects already stored and written up in his computer, which had covered the requirements for long term dissertations admirably. All that time Billy spent alone, he had kept himself busy with project after project to fill the emptiness in his life. Now it was time for those experiments to be of some use to the wolf ninjetti.

Jason sat down on the desk shaking his head slightly "I knew Billy was smart but I had no idea..." the gold ranger said.

"I don't think Billy does either...which is part of the reason I'm doing this." Skye said, struggling to find the words to explain. "None of you have ever really tried to compete with him on his ground--he has no way to rate himself now. As he learns more, he tends to focus on what he doesn't know, rather than what he does so he has never regarded himself as particularly above normal. I guess...I guess I've done this to give him an insight into his own abilities and boost his confidence in his capabilities." 

Jason nodded. That was Billy all right. When he was teaching him karate, the Blue Ranger tended to get really depressed because he couldn't get the next move quite right, and brushed off the compliments about what he had achieved as if that didn't matter. Only under the influence of a spell had he ever heard Billy say anything that gave the impression that he was smarter than the rest of them. Especially recently, now he had cut down on the techno-babble, it was easy to assume he was just the same as them all. There was something slightly unsettling about this realisation to Jason, as if he was guilty of something, of underestimating his friend, and in doing so not providing the support he needed. 

The Gold Ranger spied something else in the drawer...a couple of dozen or so CD-ROMs with a strange Bluewolfs-head logo inscribed on them. 

"What are those?" he asked curiously reaching for them. There was nothing on them aside from that insignia

Skye turned to look. "Those are Billy's "original" work--inventions, writings, and the like, I have stored them on CD in case something should happen to Billy's lab or anything." Skye took them from Jason and tucked them in the blue portfolio along with all the qualifications. 

"I still cannot believe you have had time to do all this...not without Billy knowing" Jason said shaking his head in disbelief.

Skye smiled. "I don't sleep much..dream yes, but sleep no, so I usually have nearly four to six hours each night uninterrupted flow of thought from Billy."

He fixed Jason with a suddenly intense stare "This knowledge must not be lost. You understand why I have done this?" He placed everything back in the drawer without waiting for a reply

"I think so." Jason said his mind whirling with shock. If there was one thing that going to the Peace Summit had taught him was that often it was knowlege that was the key to peace, and that ignorance bred war. The information on those CD's could have major implications. He wanted to ask Skye for more details but the artist had already turned to leave.

They walked back down to the garage-lab. Billy was still asleep on the couch. Jason kept staring at him as if he expected him to have changed suddenly in the past half hour. Instead he looked impossibly young with his face relaxed in sleep, too young to have done so much. 

"Thanks for telling me that..." Jason said softly. It was indeed an incredible secret to be entrusted with. 

Skye nodded. "It seemed like the right..." he coughed and pressed his hand to his chest "thing to do.." He wheezed painfully. 

"Skye?" Jason stepped closer.

The artist had gone very pale which with his white hair literally made him look like a ghost. "Don't ...feel...so good..." he gasped swaying. Before Jason could do anything, his eyes rolled back in his head and he toppled over.

"Jesus!" Jason exclaimed to himself barely catching him before he hit the ground. He lowered Skye to the floor and thinking he was having some kind of asthma attack yelled for Billy and then, trying to remember his first aid, ripped open the artists shirt to help his breathing. The Star Crystal on his chest was blazing a violent scarlet, and the light felt solid and alive against his hands. He could not get the Star Crystal off of Skye's neck. Jason turned to call Billy again, and was horrified to see his friend in a similar state. The wolfspirit crystal around his neck glowed blood red and without warning they both appeared to go into minor convulsions. 

At this point Jason began to get really worried. 

"Zordon!?" he whispered urgently into his communicator "I've got trouble here! Billy and Skye appear to be having some sort of attack.! We need to get them to the Power Chamber immediately!"

To his surprise it was Alpha who responded. "I will teleport you in right away!"

~*~

They materialised in the Power Chamber. Jason struggled to restrain Skye and Billy. He looked up to ask Zordon what was going on and was shocked to see nothing but a swirling column of scarlet fire in the transdimensional tube. 

"Alpha? Where's Zordon..." but he did not get a reply as Tommy suddenly teleported in cradling the form of Kimberly in his arms who was in a similar state to the other two. In fact Tommy himself looked none too good, appearing to be pale and trembling, which could be shock from Kimberly's condition but somehow Jason doubted that to be the case. With that Adam and Rocky appeared in separate streams of coloured light, looking like they were shaking with fear.

"What the hell going on?!" Tommy asked in alarm in an unsteady voice. To which there appeared no answer from anywhere.

~*~

Ishala was looking out over the African village as the sun rose, watching Aisha running alongside her playful lioncub, the latest rescuee from the plague. Much to her surprise, the young woman suddenly dropped in her tracks falling to the dusty ground in some sort of fit. The old woman stood up in alarm and gasped as she felt a flutter of warning in her mind and saw Aisha enveloped in a ghostly scarlet light. Yahna, a young assistant at the camp, made to rush over to help her friend, but Ishala stopped her.

"She is being spoken to by the Spirits. Can you not feel it?" the wisewoman said calmly, regaining her composure..

Yahna felt a chill at odds with the heat of the rising sun. All this time, they had secretly laughed at Ishala's reverence of the spirits and now this; proof before her eyes. She felt downright scared and looked at the matriarch to see her faint smile of understanding.

"It will not hurt you...or her. " she soothed "But when the Spirits call so loud, lives are always changed."

And looking upon the grown form of one she thought of as family, she sighed for the loss that change would bring.

~*~

As the moons rose high over Phaedos, their silver light clinging longingly to the Temple, Dulcea was about to launch into her evening flight. As she prepared to summon forth her spirit form to soar on the soft moonwinds that swirled around the plateau she felt a slight disturbance in the Great Power. She paused but before she could probe any deeper, she was engulfed in a raging aura of red fire and dropped gasping to the stone floor incapacitated by an overwhelming sense of impending danger and fear. Her Owl Spirit registered a violent reaction of recognition and showed her, vision-locked as she was, an image of the bloodfire wave of warning sweeping through space, leaving none untouched by it's presence, in the Forces of Good and Evil alike.

~*~

Dark Spectre halted in his appraisal of his forces latests exploits as a strange influence swept through him. A bloodfire warning which he seized and rejoiced in. No warning for him but a promise from the ancient past, a confirmation of his beliefs in the cycles of time bringing around again a triumph of darkness long past. All that he had worked for, all that he had achieved in welding together the alliance of Evil would now come to fruition.

"Yes!" he bellowed in exultation. "It returns. Our time truly has come again. Our efforts to prepare for the return of the One must redouble--that must be our task!" An unholy glimmer filled his lava red eyes as he beheld the darkling future that had just touched his mind with purpose.

~*~

In her Sub a notorious space pirate stiffened as the warning touched her and then her lips curved in a half smile as the red glow clung to her form. A seed of a dark idea began to germinate, growing in the warmth of the bloodfire message. Evils' time was upon them and power lay in the hands of the lords of darkness. The signs had been there for all to see, the Evil forces of the Galaxy had grown in influence and dominion, until their strength was once again superior. Dark Spectre held sway over them all....or maybe his long lost sibling, Maligore. Divatox would stand no chance with Dark Spectre after she had raided that very profitable mining world of his. Maybe then, if she was to have a place in this new order of the Universe that was coming into being, an alliance--no, a marriage would give her access to Power beyond all others. She laughed with delight, brushing back her long purple streaked hair. Divatox was making Wedding Plans!

~*~

Master Vile, Rita and Lord Zedd were in the middle of one of their frequent family arguments.

"I admit it is a stupendous plan, a marvel of design and ingenuity" Master Vile grudgingly admitted. Rita and Zedd exchanged triumphant glances 

Master Vile scowled at their obvious scheming."But I am not going to spend all the revenue from an entire years ill gotten gains on one Ultimate Weapon. They never stay Ultimate for that long anyway."

Zedd strode forward to protest. He hated being subservient to Rita's father; it stuck in his throat to ask for help, but this time they really had something. Just as he was about to speak the bloodfire Wave struck them all. Zedd's staff glowed furnace red, arcing lightening to Rita's staff. All three of them glowed red and when the effect past, they were all grinning in delight. 

"I told you the legends were true! I TOLD you!" Rita screeched in self-righteous excitement.

Zedd stood stunned. Forces of Darkness! It was really going to happen, and he would be alive to see it.

Master Vile rapidly assessed what to do; If he was going to gain the upper hand on Dark Spectre when the One returned he would have to present it with something to gain its favour. Rita and Zedd were dancing around the throne room drunk with glee.

"Cease this frivolity! We have work to do. We will make your Ultimate Weapon, but we will triple it's capabilities." Master Vile announced. Hang the cost; money was only a means to power, and power beyond imagination would be the reward here! Rita and Zedd stopped, silenced by this pronouncement, and with a hint of awe bowed respectfully in anticipation. 

~*~

Back in the Power Chamber, Jason as the only one apparently not unduly troubled by the disturbance was rapidly feeling out of his depth. The ominous red light from the Star Crystal seemed to have spread touching all of them with its glow. Apart from him. He felt totally useless watching them all wracked by tremors. In someway it was harder watching Tommy, Adam and Rocky helpless in the grip of whatever was happening and aware of that fact.

__

What do I do? Jason questioned himself, _There must be something!. _

He felt slightly better when Tanya and Kat teleported in also seemingly unaffected by whatever was going on, alerted by his emergency call. At least he was not alone in this lack of reaction. But that did nothing to help the others. 

Abruptly the tremors ceased and all of them said in perfect unison "_M'Khi lucea-sa!! Zha'Khee-ree aa_!" And then with a whirling glory of light the bloodfire flared and dispersed into the air and they all snapped awake.

" What on earth...?" Kimberly said groggily looking around at the Power Chamber. Tommy, relieved that she appeared none the worse for wear, helped her up and refused to let her go.

"How did we get here?" Billy asked blearily, shaking his head clear. The last thing he remember was eating the donut whilst pouring over those new Zord schematics and now he was in the Power Chamber with his mind full of painful information, strange images and a irresistable impulse that he had to do something. 

Jason answered, still concerned."I brought you and Skye here, I dropped in on my way home, and not long after I got there you and Skye...started having convulsions."

"Same with you Kim" Tommy said holding her tight, "Except that I seemed to be reacting to something too, but not as badly as you were."

"Same with both of us by the sounds of it" Rocky contributed as he and Adam exchanged glances.

"Well all of you were like it for quite a while and then you said that strange phrase and then it was gone." Jason explained and then added, "Zordon was affected too."

"I am fine now Rangers" Zordons voice boomed reassuringly, his image shimmering back into view. 

"But what was it all about?" Tommy asked. "Why were some of us affected more than others and obviously Jason, Tanya and Kat not at all."

Skye pushed himself up, seeing the connection immediately. "It's to do with the Zeo Crystals partially blocking those who were Ninjetti. It's a warning to all, particularly those who are Ninjetti." He sat back breathing heavily. The Star Crystal still seemed to burn against his skin even now. There had been no way to escape that Vision, and he had no doubt that it had touched many as it swept past. He shuddered in remembrance.

Tanya looked around at the shaken group, stepped forward and turned and looked squarely at Zordon. "Okay time for some answers. I've had enough. We know something has been going on, and this is just the icing on the cake."

Rocky raised his eyebrows to Adam, who shrugged with a "Try living with it!" expression on his face.

"I agree Zordon--what was the meaning of this?" Tommy asked reasserting his position as leader of the team.

"I will answer your questions" Zordon said in a weary tone."As this incident proves there is no doubt as to the direction events will take, it is only right that you have the knowledge."

Recognising a cue to make themselves comfortable, the Rangers and non-rangers alike did so as Zordon launched into his explanation.

" The knowledge I can give you about this occurrence is very little, as it stems from legends of the Ninjetti that were regarded as little more than myths even in the days of my youth. Only fragments remain in the keeping of the Council of the Wise, and on Phaedos.The bloodfire wave effect was an ancient Ninjetti warning produced by a Wardstone in the Galactic void. The phrase translates approximately as "_The Sun Goes Down.... Beware the Darkness Visible_." It was said that this warning would occur if the return of one of the most deadly enemies of the Ninjetti was sensed. But most Legends describe the Zha'khee-ree'aa as having been destroyed by the Ninjetti, therefore very few have anticipated a return." Zordon said with inhuman calm. They sat in silence absorbing this information. 

"This Enemy...this is bigger than the Machine Empire?" Tommy asked concerned.

"If the Legends are true then the Enemy is more dangerous than all the known villains put together. More to the point all of this galaxies forces of Evil will immediately defer to it's presence. They will fight for power amongst themselves but it is written that there was none that would dare challenge it's position." Zordon announced. "It is said that the conflict with the Zha'khee-ree'aa is what caused the decline of the Ninjetti from a galaxy wide civilisation and Alliance, and responsible for the destruction and abandonment of much of their homeworld of Phaedos.".

The Rangers muttered amongst themselves at Zordon's gloomy words. This was not good. The most the Machine Empire had tried to tackle at once had essentially been Angel Grove, not entire civilisations. 

"What exactly does this mean? When will the....Zha'khee-ree'aa get here?" Tommy asked urgently.

"It is not certain when it will arrive and the chances of it targeting Earth are slight. The Wardstones are deep within the Galactic Void and even at top speed it will take nearly two earth years to reach Phaedos." Zordon explained.

Adam shook his head slowly "But why? This may be a stupid question but why is it coming?Why a war? If it just waltz's in and takes over all of the evil going on in the galaxy there doesn't need to be a war." 

Zordon looked troubled as if he had hoped that this particular issue would not be raised. "It despised the Ninjetti and all the forces of Light, and would need no other reason than revenge for an excuse to wage war."

Tanya looked thoughtful "Maybe so, but that does not explain why it clashed with the Ninjetti to begin with and why such precautions against it's return. We need to know." She fixed Zordon with a challenging look.

"Very well" Zordon acquiesced. "The Zha'khee-ree'aa sought the secrets protected by the Great Power. By all accounts it came very close to succeeding. If it had, there would have been no force in the Galaxy that could have stopped it. As it was it appeared that only the Ninjetti were able to confront it directly." Then he appeared to sigh. "It also means one other thing. Billy and Skye as the only full active Ninjetti must leave to assist in mobilising the Ninjetti forces in readiness to confront this menace" 

That pronouncement brought a babble of denial from all of them, except Billy and Skye who instinctively knew that their mentor told the truth, though the truth wasn't something that they necessarily had to like.

"They can't go on their own!" Rocky said alarmed.

"We should go with them." Tommy stated, looking around and receiving the support of the others.

"No, the Earth is still under threat, it still needs the protection of the Zeo Rangers." Zordon admonished. That silenced the protests briefly. They still had that duty to fulfill.

Jason had a sour expression on his face. "I don't like this, splitting up the team, it not right!" After the incident with Kimberly the team had been much closer, and any disturbance to this new harmony was threatening. 

"This is what it has been building up to" Skye interjected with sudden intensity "All the half-warnings, the dreams, and the events of the past few months were about what is coming. Can't you feel it?"

To him, the feeling was so real, so clear it was like a living thing with a existence of it's own, tugging and pulling at them all. His question hung in the air and Kimberly met his gaze. She felt it, through the strange resonance of energies between the two of them that had existed since her healing. It was hard to put into words, but it was like all that had gone before had been preparation for a trip or a journey and now the order had finally come that it was time to set out. 

"I understand what you are saying." She said meeting Skye's concerned expression. She could tell Billy felt it too, and that he wasn't too thrilled about it either.

"This is a matter of necessity Rangers" Zordon stated. "The Ninjetti are summoned to act now. If the Darkness Visible is indeed on it's way to our galaxy then there is no time to waste. However, similarly those who would welcome it's return will redouble their efforts to effect evils stranglehold."

"So what you are saying..." Adam summarised shrewdly "Is that things are only going to get worse in regards to attacks on Earth, and that Villains everywhere are going to going crazy 'cleaning house' as it were.?"

"Yes." Zordon admitted bluntly.

"Well there's something to look forward too" Rocky said in a deliberately light tone "More monster butt to kick."

Tommy and Jason had exchanged looks and without saying a word had decided between them that there was nothing for it.

"Okay...we will stay and protect the Earth whilst Billy and Skye are gone." Tommy said with reluctant finality. And one by one the other Rangers nodded in agreement with his decision.

~*~

It had taken a few days for the others to come to term with the fact that Billy would be leaving and he had to reassure them he would be coming back with as much sincerity he could muster without really knowing himself. It was difficult. His mind drifted back to the brief exchange he had had with Skye after the revelation.

"How can I leave?" Billy asked plaintively "How can I leave....and they will be vulnerable to the Machine Empire. Everytime I have been absent over the past few months, I have come back to find them in desperate trouble."

Skye nodded. "That was before they bonded together, the team was pulling apart. Hopefully those ties will hold them together whilst we are away."

Billy turned away; attempting to concealing his real reasons. Skye touched the Star Crystal and unobtrusively picked up the emotions . It was because of Trini. He couldn't bear to leave Trini after discovering her love so recently, but he knew he had to go. It was tearing him apart. Skye nodded to himself. 

Billy sighed "I guess you are right. I know we have to go, but we have so much to do and so little time."

Skye echoed his sentiment. "Speaking of which....I have to clear up a few things before we go, and you have to tell your father what has been going on. You can't just disappear this time and talk your way out of it when you get back."

Billy nodded in agreement. There was one loose end in particular that he needed to sort out, and it wasn't his father

~*~

Billy lay awake, staring at the ceiling. "Damn it! I don't want to go...not now!" he muttered quietly. The moonlight picked out bright shapes that flickered like faces across his walls, accusing him of running out, abandoning....He was interrupted by an awareness of a very familiar presence.

**__**

Why do you resist the Path you accepted when you chose to be a Ninjetti? his wolfspirit questioned sharply. **_You knew then that much would be asked of you._**

Billy sighed. Yes, true he had sensed the possibilities, but not that he might have to give up love. At that point, there hadn't been any to lose so it had not been a consideration. A few months ago, before meeting Skye, before sorting himself out he would have jumped at the chance to get off planet but now he had some very good reasons to stay. One VERY good reason in particular.

__

She won't be able to wait, if I go I will lose her.

There, it was said. An unbearable sense of loss threatened to overwhelm him. Silence answered him.

__

I have just found her, I have just found MYSELF and now I have to lose it all again! he protested in the face of that total lack of response. 

**__**

Then stay, his wolf spirit said flatly. 

__

I can't stay, I have no choice but to go.... Self-pity tinged his voice.

There was an impression of angry snarling.

**__**

There is ALWAYS a choice! the wolfspirit growled. **_You stay or you go. I do not make that choice, you do. But then everyone lives with the consequences_. **

__

What difference would it make if I did stay? I am only one person after all....Billy said hopefully. _Can't I stay and be with Trini? What about the others? Who will fix the Zords? Help them out when they've been turned into some bizarre thing or put under a spell? Surely I would not make that much of a difference...I am just one person! Can't I stay and be with Trini? What about the others? Who will fix Zords? Help them out when theyve been turned into some bizarre thing or put under spell?_

The wolf spirit turned looking upset. **_I find it hard to counsel you on this subject for it seems like I tell you to put the Pack aside, and that is against my nature. I offer this as much of an answer as I can. Pups that have been overprotected do not learn...They will find a way to care for themselves. If protected for too long, when Life finds them it will destroy them. And what if to save your Pack you must leave it? If wolves do not leave the Pack to protect their territory from others, then the Pack would be destroyed. Though removed in distance the Packbond is still there. I cannot tell you what to do, but you know what is right._**

Billy nearly wept in the darkness. Dammit, dammit yes he did. He had to go. All logic told him to stay, but all instinct told him he had to go. He would have to kill the fresh bloom of love that had sprung up between him and Trini by just walking away.

"Walk away. Just walk away. Oh god......" Billy gulped. He sat up in his bed his face etched in moonlight and shadow, nearly doubled over by the gnawing emptiness that threatened him already. He knew what he had to do. He had to do the equivalent of Kimberlys' Letter and set her free. He couldn't ask her to wait for him to come back; for all he knew he might not ever make it home. She deserved to be happy; he owed her that much and he couldn't ask her to waste herself on the slim chance that he might return after some undetermined length of time. And if there was one thing that Billy had a lot of experience at it was losing that which he loved. But he would try and tell her face to face, that much he could do for her.

~*~

"Hi Dad...you know all that time I disappeared and was late for things. Well I was the Blue Power Ranger, hard to believe I know... Oh yes incidentally, I'm going away on a mystical quest into outer Space for an unknown period of time, with Skye who also happens to be a psychic." Billy muttered to himself as he got up the following morning.

"Oh yes, he'll take that really calmly.!" How on earth was he going to break this to his father?. There was no time for subtlety. Maybe that was the answer.

A few moments later after a brief call to the Power Chamber he walked into his kitchen steeling himself. 

"Dad?" he called out. "Dad? I need to speak to you" 

"Coming...." His father walked in half reading the paper and paused looking at his son's expression. "Oh...a serious talk." 

Billy nodded slowly. "Look Dad this is difficult to say....but I'm going away for a while."

Hank Cranston put the paper down slowly. "Where? Why? For how long?" he asked studying his son intently.

"Well now that is the difficult part." Billy said uncomfortable. He lifted his wrist and exposed his communicator. "Hold onto your hat dad--I think this may surprise you just a little" and taking his fathers hand teleported them both to the Power Chamber.

~*~

"That is correct Mr Cranston" Zordon said "Billy really has been a Power Ranger since they first appeared. He was the original Blue Power Ranger." 

Billy thought his father looked slightly less shocked than he had an hour previously._ Sometimes_ he thought, _it is best to show people than try to explain the impossible. _

"It explains a lot really" Hank said looking appraisingly at his son. "The disappearances, the karate--where did you actually go when you were at 'Space Camp'?"

Billy grinned. It had been a small joke on his part. "A planet called Aquitar."

"He assisted the Aquitians in resolving an interplanetary war" Zordon explained helpfully. Hank nodded looking a bit stunned and looked his son over again as if looking for some strange sign or difference in his face.

"So what is happening now then?" he asked eventually.

"Billy has recently regained his Ninjetti Wolf Spirit Powers..." Zordon began. 

"You are the Blue Wolf Warrior?" Hank asked aghast "But what that guy can do....it's incredible!" He plainly did not believe so Billy obligingly invoked his Spirit Armour and finally saw a measure of acceptance in his father's eyes. 

He powered down quickly as Zordon continued. "He has been given a very important mission, which could have grave implications for the entire galaxy." The Eltarian imparted.

As Hank Cranston absorbed this information Alpha suddenly piped up "Incoming teleportation" with which in a silvery flash of fire Skye appeared. The white haired artist looked comically dismayed at seeing Billy's father in front of him in the Power Chamber.

"You are a Power Ranger too?" Hank asked Skye before he had a chance to speak..

"Not a Ranger, don't think I ever will be--I leave that to the others!" Skye said, and then laughed "For a moment there I thought I had blown the whole Power Ranger secret by putting in the wrong coordinates!"

Hank Cranston sat down heavily shaking his head. "It's all so incredible" he looked up at his son's anxious expression "Oh don't get me wrong, I believe you. It's like everything, obvious when you see it, but Billy what about your normal life? College? I thought you were doing that this year."

Billy looked torn. "Dad this is far more important than my ordinary life...college will have to wait. It may take me a little time to catch up but..." he shrugged. How could he make him see what he had to do? How important this was when he didn't really know why, he just felt it to be vital. Would he be leaving Trini if it were anything less than a matter of life and death?

They heard a muffled laugh behind them and both turned to see Skye chuckling at their angst. 

"You guys kill me!" he laughed. "Would it make either of you feel any better to know that Billy has figuratively already been to college?"

"What?!" Father and son queried in unison. Skye nodded to Alpha who brought over the same thick blue file he had shown to Jason only a few nights before and handed it to Billy. Father and sons' expressions became identical features of mirrored incredulity as they leafed through the sheaf of certificates. 

"This is for real?" Hank Cranston asked in a tone that denied the validity of what was before him..

"How did I do this?" Billy asked in the same breath. 

Skye grinned "Yes they are all real and Billy by mindlink and that marvelous sub-vocal computer interface!" 

Understanding dawned in Billy's blue eyes. "You mindlinked whilst I was sleeping." He stated rather than asked.

"But why?" Billy questioned looking at his fathers face. 

Skye sighed "I guess, because of this, though I didn't know it at the time that was why it was necessary. You and your father needed to know that you are ready to face the challenges ahead, a way of boosting confidence in our mission I guess." He paused briefly "Billy, you literally did this in your sleep, the knowledge was already there!"

"But I don't feel any different" Billy said unable to accept that this had happened without some dramatic change in himself.. 

"You are not, It's just you have never taken the time to measure yourself against a standard." Zordon suddenly chipped in "These years of having lives depend upon your ability to think and invent a way for you and your friends out of a problems and make lightening decisions have stretched your mind further than you would credit, though the Power Rangers oath has required you to be circumspect".

Billy shuffled uneasily as the realisation of this truth hit him. It was uncomfortable adjusting to the fact that you were not the person you thought you were.

**__**

You should realise that no-one is who they think they are, his wolf spirit advised in one of its philosophical moods **_Mainly because they rely so much on what others think they are to form their opinions of themselves._**

You could have told me! Billy mindspoke, slightly hurt by being left in ignorance.

**__**

And what difference would it have made if I had told you earlier? said the wolfspirit. It grinned. **_Besides, you are not so smart by wolf standards...and a cub with a swelled head is not a pretty sight._**

Billy stifled a snort. One ego swiftly deflated.

His father looked up having just glanced at one of the qualifications "Dr Cranston I presume!" he said lightly and laughed. Billy flushed with embarrassment and his father embraced him. 

"I'm proud of you...I'd always hoped you'd get a doctorate but at this age?" 

"Actually..." Skye interrupted "Two, the other one should arrive soon.

" Hank shrugged "a doctorate is a doctorate is a doctorate...." . He looked slightly dazed at the news and Skye doubted that is had really sunk in.

"Do you have any objections to Billy going into space" Zordon inquired seriously.

Billy's father shook his head "There is nothing I could say, he's obviously more qualified than most....I can't deny that. If it is that important...then no., no objections." 

Billy smiled. For once it was nice to know that he was doing this with his fathers approval, and that in itself strengthened his resolve that what he was doing was right, regardless of the cost to himself.

~*~

The goodbyes were emotional and done in the Power Chamber. 

"Hey I don't remember all this fuss when I went to Aquitar!" Billy said in mock protest to Adam and Rocky

"Because you hopped on board a UFO and blasted off before we could get there!" Rocky remonstrated. They couldn't believe he'd gone just like that, and now this seemed so much more permanent. 

"Besides at least then we knew where you were!" Adam said. "This time we don't know where you are going."

"That includes me" Billy laughed nervously "If it means anything I'm pretty sure we will be going to Aquitar! I promise to send you a postcard."

"You'd better!" Adam threatened.

"Be careful, both of you!" Tommy ordered in his best leader voice and then smiled, still regretful they were not all going out into space together.

"We'll give it our best attempt just for you." Skye replied wryly. "And you, you all take care of yourselves while Billy isn't here to patch up the zords and all". The artists tone was light, but his eyes seemed to seek out Jason and Rocky in particular. He gave a nearly silent sigh.

"If I come back and find that you've wrecked ANOTHER set of Zords...so help me!" Billy said in a mock growl, causing everyone to laugh. Finally the girls gathered round and hugged the pair ending the farewells. Just as the Rangers were leaving to give Billy and his dad some privacy, Adam turned one last time.

"We will miss you Billy" Adam said softly. And Billy just met his friend's dark eyes and nodded unable to speak. He would miss all of them beyond all his ability to express, and one of them in particular who wasn't even here to say goodbye. 

~*~

Billy stood with a frown waiting for his father to arrive to say goodbye. She hadn't returned his calls. Where was she? She hadn't emailed either. All her mother had said was that she could not contact her at that point in time, which was strange in itself. He couldn't just go and leave without saying anything, he couldn't! Tucked inside his trouser pocket was a Letter, like Kimberly's, a tissue of lies to explain why he had left, and why she had to forget him and carry on with her life. It was a last ditch effort to "do the right thing". Each word burned like a red-hot knife edge cutting into him as he had written it. He hadn't told any of the others what he was going to do, especially Skye, and they had put down his depressed mood to his leaving them all. He wouldn't send it yet. Only when they left Phaedos, because he might just receive a call from her then. After that, it would be over. He sighed heavily. His father 'ported in with a brave smile fixed firmly on his face. They had said emotional farewells the night before and had promised to make this brief and swift.

"Take care son. Make sure you send the equivalent of a postcard when you can." his dad said hugging him tight, not wanting to let go. 

"I will dad, I promise. I'll just get our stuff." Billy said in a choked voice.Despite his best intentions of a quick break, he didn't want to leave his fathers embrace. Eventually though,he pulled away.

As he left to get the luggage Skye suddenly stepped forward and handed Hank Cranston a double CD-Rom. The artist looked up at the man who had taken him into his house without a second thought and given him somewhere to belong again after a long time of being alone in the world. A man who could let go of his son though it meant he might lose him for himself. He was a man who could be trusted with the information on these discs.

"This is for you. There is an accompanying explanation, but when we get back, there is a good chance that we will need resources. These are password-encrypted records of some of Billy's inventions. I'll think you'll find them interesting. Thankyou for taking me in and giving me somewhere to call home." Skye said his voice thick with emotion. He would miss what he had come to call home again after so many years, even if it had been for a comparatively short time. They embraced. Billy returned with some backpacks and bags. 

"Time to go I guess" the Wolf Ninjetti said reluctantly "Goodbye Dad, Goodbye Zordon, Alpha. "

"Goodbye Billy, Skye" said Zordon in a subdued tone. "May the Power protect you both." 

Reluctantly the pair tore themselves away and straightened up

"Alpha, teleport us to Phaedos now please." Billy requested in a tone of aching finality and in a flash of silver and blue light they were gone.

~*~

"Shame we couldn't have got the Wolf Zord sent to Earth" Billy commented as they picked their way up to the temple "Then we could have spent longer...saying goodbye." _Why hadn't she called? The most important time in his life and she hadn't called._

Skye glanced across at him and hid a small smile. He knew exactly what Billy was thinking about. 

"Well we also had to give this to Dulcea" Skye said calmly pulling the newly sculpted Owl spirit crystal from his pocket. "And we have to come here to pick up a traveling companion." He added slyly.

"A traveling companion? You didn't say anything about us traveling with anyone?" Billy was startled. Skye grinned at him unrepentantly.

"One day I'm going to get you on these surprises." Billy mock threatened. Oddly he felt a curious anticipation, rather than dread.

"Not today Wolf-Boy!".

"Hold! Are you Seekers of the Great Power!?" hailed a strong voice from above them.

"Been there done that!" Billy called back knowing it was Dulcea following tradition. He and Skye exchanged mischievous glances.

"Got the T-shirt!" they both shouted together and then broke up laughing. They finally reached the top where the Master Warrior of the Ninjetti stood waiting for them with an indulgent expression for their frivolity. 

"Billy and Skye of Earth" she greeted them "Welcome to Phaedos again.!" The pair bowed formally in response.

"We bring you a gift Dulcea" Billy said anticipating it's reception. "It took a little longer because I had to do some special modifications.

Skye handed over the Owl Crystal placed it in her hand. She smiled and slipped it on. Skye touched his Star Crystal and focused and the Owl Crystal glowed in response sending a cascade of green light over her.

"You are now linked." He announced. That had been a whole lot easier than the first couple of times he had linked crystal to crystal.

"Owl Spirit Warrior now!" Dulcea commanded and was immediately encased in a snowy white armour flecked with emerald green and gleaming gold eyes. "By the Powers! It was worth the wait!" She powered down. A dangerous smile curled on the warriors lips; fighting with this and her own millennia honed abilities would be something to behold!

"Plus of course" Billy added in barely suppressed excitement "I managed to induce a psionic temporal field in the spirit crystal." 

Dulcea looked up, her stern face oddly hopeful. Did he really mean what she thought he meant?

"I think he's saying you have your own time bubble as long as you wear the crystal. You will be able to leave the plateau." Skye translated with a laugh. 

"The Wolf's Son is clever indeed" Dulcea complimented. "That has solved part of our problem! Now to introduce you to your companion." She signaled with her arm and from the area to their right a Ninjetti warrior stepped forward, already wearing spirit armour. The armour was a shimmering gold and white and the ferocious visage of a tiger was apparent, bright flame glowing eyes burning bright. Billy frowned as he felt a sense of familiarity and recognition sweep over him. His wolf spirit laughed inside.

He stepped forward "...I...I know you..." he said half stating half questioning. 

The spirit warrior nodded and then spoke in a heart-stoppingly familiar voice "I should hope so! After all those sweet nothings you have whispered in my ear." she said and powered down revealing a very recognisable petite figure. 

"Trini!" he exclaimed amazed and alive with hope. If Trini was coming with them then that was most of his reservations dispelled in a moment. How close he had come to letting it all go...he became abruptly very conscious of the Letter poking from his pocket and resolved to destroy it as soon as possible. 

He turned and looked at Skye who was grinning smugly. "So that's what you were doing!" 

Trini smiled her dazzling smile, pleased to have surprised Billy. "Skye came and invited me to come with you. I quested for the Great Power two days ago and succeeded. Skye linked me with my spirit armour yesterday so I am ready to join the expedition." She announced serenely as if suggesting a walk in Angel Grove Park. 

"Are you sure?" Billy asked with concern and amended hastily "Not that I wouldn't love for you to come but as all we do know about what is going to happen is that it will be dangerous....?" 

"I understand the risks, Billy" Trini said calmly and Billy tried to keep his exultation from showing."I was apprised of the danger and thought through all the consequences and I accept them. I regard this as an opportunity." She stressed the final word whilst looking at Billy's face.

He nodded in agreement and his face lit up with a smile.

He sensed his wolf-spirit laughing inside. _What's so funny?_ he asked 

**__**

Just the way that youve been torturing yourself for past week about something was never going to happen, it wolfspoke with an infuriating grin 

__

You knew? You knew she was coming and you didn't tell me? Billy said outraged. 

The wolfspirit became serious. **_No. I knew she would not stop loving you._**

And Billy found that inane happy smile magically appear once again.

"Now let us focus on the task at hand." Dulcea summoned them to order. "I suggested to Skye that he probe the Marai'sa, the Ninjetti Mysteries. It appears that there were at least two million active Ninjetti at the last war. It was barely enough" She stated. "This leaves us with our most fundamental problem. The Ninjetti began to fade after the War as their purpose was deemed to have been fulfilled--this Zordon has explained."

She saw their agreeing nods and continued. "What he didn't tell you is that there are only at the most twenty thousand Ninjetti scattered across the galaxy at this point in time. "

"Is that all?" Billy asked frowning. This was not good news.

"Hmm...and most of those have not actually joined with the Great Power from the Monolith. That will have to be changed." Dulcea sighed. "Zordon is one of the most respected of the Council of the Wise, and yet of late I found myself at odds with him, for he chose not to inform you of what might come to pass. The others followed his lead, but now it is certain that we will eventually confront the Zha'khee-ree'aa, he has released you to your destiny. I do not think that any of them truly believed it would actually occur." She explained, the disapproving tone evident in her voice. "I have been trying to get the Council of the Wise to mobilise for over a century, but they thought it only natural that I be concerned about legends of my own kind but that it was not truly a cause for concern. I wish we had more time to prepare."

"Legends are not an awful lot to work on Dulcea" Trini commented.

"It is all we have." Dulcea said sternly. "For some reason, the ninjetti were the only ones who could effectively oppose the Darkness Visible itself. But it had command of many of the galaxies then most evil inhabitants. We know very little about it save that. It happened, a long, long time ago. Your race, young tiger was only just born when the Ninjetti confronted the Zha'khee-ree'aa the first time. Even the Ninjetti Histories of the Marai'sa Sphere are based on hearsay, legend and the words of the spirits.."

Billy frowned. "That doesn't change the basic facts of the matter. Number wise, we are seriously underpowered and undermanned.We need new warriors, and those warriors will need enhanced Zords." Billy mused, trying to comprehend the totally different scale on which this conflict would take place.

"The Spirit Armour and powers greatly enhance the Ninjetti Power." Dulcea contributed touching the spirit crystal for emphasis."We will also need to supply them with that advantage. It may compensate for lack of numbers."

"So we will need warriors, zords and spirit crystals" Billy summarised ticking the points off on his fingers, pausing at the magnitude of the problem. They lapsed into a subdued silence. This wasn't a single group striving to succeed, they were going to have to try and raise an army- and army of zords with ninjetti warriors to pilot them. 

"Well we have three zords" Skye said with forced optimism. "I guess it is a start." Three and they needed millions! They couldn't build them in that time, it just wasn't possible.

Trini had been thinking deeply "The old zords of the Ninjetti, surely they weren't all lost--maybe they could be repaired or something?" she suggested hopefully. 

"Interesting suggestion!" Dulcea said nodding thoughtfully. " Ninjetti zords were stored stasis locked. Those that survived the War should still exist in standby mode." Dulcea responded. It was a start.

"But there are too many to fix one by one..." Skye commented. That much was self evident even to a non-scientist like himself.

"What if I created some more Zord Maintenance Droids--'super zebeedee's?" Billy suggested, excited. "Ones that could reproduce themselves...with programmed capabilities to seek out Ninjetti zords and repair and enhance them, and then go searching for more based on the data gleaned from the ones they find! Then all we would have to do is seed the area of space with zebeedees and concentrate on recruiting warriors!" 

"Excellent, young Wolf!" Dulcea agreed becoming quite animated. "Finding those worthy of becoming Ninjetti has never been easy. But the Ninjetti also relied upon Allies to assist them in the Great War, and many races are still bound by that Covenant, and there are many new colonies among the stars who may join us."

"Well Trini's Tiger Zord could mine the Sionas Crystal by remote teleportation whilst Billy build the Zebeedee's" Skye contributed.

"And I will activate the existing Ninjetti now I can leave Phaedos and contact the Council of the Wise to ask for Candidates. I have to be on Phaedos for the Testing. That is the Duty I was left with, and now my task comes around. Besides, I can manipulate the time on the Plateau in a way that no other can. It will help us get through the amount of candidates in the little time we have." Dulcea explained. It would give her an almighty headache trying to maintain parallel time loops, but that was part of her Power in the Temple which she had not had to use for a long, long time.

"So..." Trini drew the discussion to a close "Dulcea will rouse the existing Ninjetti, Billy, Skye and myself will deal with making the Zebeedee's and mining the spirit crystal. Then we three will go on a Zord finding and recruiting expedition whilst Dulcea turns our recruits into full blown Ninjetti." They all nodded in agreement.

Then the four of them looked at each other in silence, unable to speak as the enormity of the tasks they had set for themselves swelled before them.

~*~

Trini watched Billy and Skye put the last few finishing touches to the prototype "super zeebedee's". She had flown to Sionas, mined the psi-crystal and returned in the space of three days and she would swear that neither of them had stopped since she had left. It was incredible to watch. She had experienced Skye mindspeaking and Billy had tried to explained the mindbonding to her, but that wasn't the same as seeing it in action. Total synchronicity, working literally as one. A tiny part of her wished that she had that rapport, that she was so involved with working with Billy. But she understood the duty and the necessity and submerged that emotion under the serenity of her kung fu training. With that clarity of perception she could appreciate the phenomena as a marvel of focus and intent. But on another level she was concerned that Billy was pushing himself too hard already and their mission, recruitment quest had barely begun. She knew from experience that Billy would not let go of the problem until it was done and then he would crash out. He'd done that many times when they had been in Angel Grove together. She prepared sleeping places for them both whilst they finished up.

"Trini!" Billy called out "Trini, I've done it!" Trini realised that actually Skye was speaking too, in perfect unison.

She hurried over. "Well about time....and unlink yourselves. I don't need to hear this in stereo." She said with a ripple of laughter in her voice. 

Skye blinked and reached to the Star Crystal and then wavered as he let go of the link.

Billy was still riding on the high of his success. "Here they are, the first of many, parents to Ninjetti Zeebedees all over the galaxy." Billy indicated two sizeable metallic objects like irregular faceted decahedrons. 

"They may not be pretty, but they will generate Zord Maintenance Droids tailored to each set of Ninjetti zords with the capability to upgrade them, and to produce more Zeebedees as soon as they locate more Zords." Billy's face was lit up by his explanation. His hair was tousled and his clothing crumpled. Trini smiled; they could have been back at home the sight was so familiar, not standing on an alien world with a daunting quest before them.

He indicated a diagram he had jotted on a rectangular piece of paper that had a complex graph scrawled on in. Trini thought that she caught a glimpse of absolute horror on his face for a brief moment as he looked at it, but she thought she must have been mistaken when he nonchalantly screwed up the piece of paper and tossed it into one of his tool boxes as rubbish.

The wolf ninjetti continued, his tone slightly more subdued. "They will be instructed to bring the Zords out of standby and back towards Phaedos to be modified for the new Ninjetti, seeding and searching whatever systems they pass through."

"An Adam and Eve of a robotic race" Trini observed dryly. 

Billy look momentarily startled. "Yes...I guess you are right, and they are about to produce the first set of twins for Wolf Zord and another set for Tiger Zord." He explained and then yawned.

Trini smiled to herself. Here it came; crash and burn time. "You two should get some rest. If we are going out into the depths of unknown space, to seek out..allies, you are going to need some sleep. Even wolves sleep every now and then." She said mildly.

Billy looked like he was going to argue, but stopped at the look in Trini's dark eyes. "Okay...okay..fine...though I've got so much to think about I don't think I will sleep at all.." He said in a resigned voice.

He lay down obediently and within moments was fast asleep. Trini laughed softly.

Skye sat down tiredly on his sleeping mat and looked at Trini. "I'm going to be asleep for quite a while" he informed her lightly. "Mindbonding uses a fair amount of energy, so when I don't wake up don't let Billy panic."

Trini nodded understandingly absorbing that information. "I'll let him know."

There was a pause before Skye spoke again quietly. "You do realise this is only the beginning..?" his eyes a steel grey in the fading light. 

"Now....yes, I think I do." She met his gaze resolutely "We've got some rough times ahead haven't we?" she said tilting her head in question. The burgeoning stars glittered against the night of her dark eyes.

He nodded slowly, never taking his gaze from her. "I wish....I wish, I knew for sure for all our sakes. It's so frustrating to feel edges of pattern, to know a few things but not the reasons why..."

"Maybe it is best that you don't know" Trini suggested. Her Tiger spirit agreed startling her with it's intense presence like a golden flickering shadowflame in her mind. She was still trying to get used to it--none of the other powers had been quite so...overt in exerting their influence.

Skye shrugged looking unconvinced "One thing I do know....If we go without you, we won't make it." He stated irrevocably. the dread that he had felt at that prospect paralleled what he had felt about Kim when they believed she was going to die.

"I believe you Skye" Trini replied seriously "otherwise I would not be here now!". It had been that argument more than any other that had sway her to leave her family and friends, her life back on Earth because she could read the truth in the artists grey blue eyes when he said that she was their only hope of even making it back, and a slim hope at that.

Both of them looked up at the strange stars and constellations that were beginning to shimmer in the deepening night. 

"It's beautiful." Trini murmured. Strange and alien but possessed of an alluring attraction. 

"But beauty is often dangerous" Skye commented and then yawned uncontrollably. 

"I'll take that as a compliment" Trini joked lightly, but had lost her audience to the realms of dreams and exhaustion. 

"Sleep now...I will keep watch." Trini reassured and as Skye drifted into a deep sleep her eyes found focus on Billy's peaceful resting form. Her tiger spirit rumbled contentedly and a warmth filled her that dispelled any doubts and uncertainty. She filled her sight with her reason for stepping into the unknown and added softly,

"...I will watch over you forever."

### End

* * *

**__**

Author's Note: Hope you all liked it, feel free to let me know what you thought. Thanks to everyone who helped me with my pleas for bits of information and time lines.


	7. Sunstars and Shadows

**__**

Disclaimer: Yet again, all of the Power Rangers and other stuff that is recognisable belongs to Saban--but there is a fair amount in this one that you won't have seen before so I guess that belongs to me. The timing will become obvious when you read the fic, but it might be an idea to read a couple of the preceding fics in the series to see how we got here (currently at number 7). Hope you like it! Enjoy!

### Twilight: Sunstars and Shadows  
by Peregrine
    
    It seemed like no one had called him for days. Jason padded around the house restlessly. It was over. Finally, it was over with Emily. The spark had never blossomed into anything more than a warm glow and though he cared for her, both of them eventually realised it was not going to go any further than the level they had reached. He hadn't seen the others for ages. He wasn't even sure if they knew about what had been happening with him, that he had broken up with Emily. After letting go of the Gold Ranger Powers that had nearly destroyed him he drifted apart from them all and surrounded himself in a cocoon of isolation. It came down to the fact that they had that something in their lives he did not any more, that's all there was to it. Somehow, somehow it seemed worse this time because he had no one to talk to about the Powerloss. The first time it had hurt them all to give up the Power, but being able to talk to Trini and Zack who understood, helped them conquer the nightmares, the craving for the Power and in time he had adjusted largely due to their support. This time, there was no-one to draw him out of the instinctive need to draw away from contact, and his uncharacteristic behaviour had eventually proved too much of a strain between him and Emily. In the final row she had speculated loudly that he must have been on some sort of drugs and was suffering moodswings due to it; she couldn't have been more wrong, and yet in someways more right.

The phone rang making him jump. He padded over to answer it, face already in a scowl of annoyance.

"Scott residence." he answered curtly. He wasn't in the mood for conversation.

"Jason?" a distant sounding female voice asked.

"Kim?" he replied hesitantly placing the voice after a moment.

"Yes, that'll be me...I glad you remember who I am." Kim said with teasing sarcasm.

"Oh...a subtle hint huh?" Jason said almost laughing for the first time in ages. "You're a fine one to talk. When was the last time you came home huh?"

When had been the last time he had seen Kim? It seemed like forever. She had left to return to the Panglobals training not long after Billy and Skye had gone and rarely had time to make it back to Angel Grove, though she seized every opportunity that came to see Tommy. Winning a Panglobal gold medal was still her dream despite all that had happened to her four or five months before.

Kim sighed audibly down the phone. "The Panglobals are only a matter of months away. I don't have time....I had to make up for all the time I missed when I came home...when I was sick." She avoided even now using the word dying; she didn't like to be reminded of what she had been through. As she frequently said after the fact, she liked to focus on what she had, now, not what she had nearly lost then.

"Missing Tommy yeah?" Jason asked trying to fathom the reason for her strange depressed tone.

There was a pause "Yes and no...he's pretty busy too." she admitted "and to be honest I need some time to think."

Jason was shocked. Not a problem between those two after all they had been through? "About you and Tommy?" he asked dreading an answer.

"No, no....nothing is wrong there, aside from the fact I feel like we are barely touching each others lives at the moment...no...it's the Panglobals." Kim's voice was subdued.

Jason could hear her sigh again. "What's the problem?" he asked concerned.

She hesitated before replying "...I'm not good enough Jason..." She said heavily. She cut through his automatic reassurances "No...no seriously, I'm not. I don't have the something extra for my routine that makes a good gymnast something special. I need to find that inside of me, and I just can't do it!" Her voice sounded really strained.

"Whoa there..look how about a bit of time just away from it all?" Jason suggested pushing forward a plan he had been too depressed to do alone, but for Kim's sake he would try it. "Give you time to relax and get your thoughts together and back into perspective."

He shook his head to himself silently. He couldn't even imagine the sort of pressure they had been putting Kim under to get her into this state. She had faced Space Villains, monsters and all without the stress getting to her in the way it was doing now.

"What did you have in mind?" she sounded intrigued despite herself.

"I was planing to do some scuba diving to take my mind off of things this weekend; you wanna join me?" It should have been Emily and him, a special treat he had planned until they had split up a few days ago; it would be a shame to waste it.

Kim hesitated briefly. "Well...Tommy I guess is busy with that charity tournament, as are the others. He had to call off our date because of it, and it was one of the only weekends I could get back here before the Panglobals begin." She sounded a little put out at that. Jason had heard about the competition but didn't intend to go, as there would be too many questions about Emily and the break up and...ah, man it would be terrible.

"No reason why you shouldn't go." Jason prodded, sure she just needed to get away from the training for a while, and for selfish reasons he would like the company of one of his oldest friends who was no longer a Ranger.

"Okay then, sure." she agreed suddenly, feeling relieved almost immediately.

Jason grinned. "Trust me Kim, it's the most relaxing thing in the world--you'll love it!"

"Well, I guess as I don't have a fish phobia I'll be fine" She replied sounding brighter. There was a pause as their thoughts moved in the same direction.

"I wonder how Billy is getting on?"

~*~

Billy crouched behind one of the dune ridges blinking at the dust flickering in his eyes as he scanned the level desert salt pans below him. A large golden tiger padded up behind him silently and gave him a playful swat on the behind. He lost his balance and fell face first into the sand dune. There was a shimmer of yellow gold light and Trini was kneeling with an impish grin on her face right behind him. She helped him up.

__

Skye senses life forms--potential Ninjetti in those salt pans. She mindspoke _I see nothing but rock._

Billy smiled at her. _He hasn't been wrong so far. Where is he?_

The three of them made an effective team, especially as it had soon become evident that the Star Crystal Ninjetti could pick out suitable candidates from the sense he received from their minds. Trini was particularly good at keeping them focused and together, which was a godsend because Billy was all too aware that he tended to get distracted sometimes. And with Trini around in close proximity that might as well be all the time. Where was Skye anyway?

__

I'm over here by these rock spires...well debris actually, the Star Ninjetti's mindvoice came through sharp and bright.

Billy looked up in concern. That was all the way down across the shimmering salt flat, a fair distance away.

__

Skye, you should wait for us to be there with you!

Though they had been through this sort of thing numerous times, they were still conscious of Skye comparative physical weakness. He did not have the speed healing of the Ninjetti, though he could consciously activate healing with the help of the Star Crystal. They couldn't help being a little overprotective of him.

Both of the Ninjetti of one accord flashed into their animal forms and sped over the windblown sands, able to pinpoint Skye easily as the one familiar smell on this burning desert world. Reaching his side they shifted back to human form. Their white-haired friend stood frowning as tried to pinpoint the feelings he was receiving through the Star Crystal.

"Now what?" Billy asked of the artist "Trini says you sense potential Ninjetti?"

"True enough...only I'm not entirely sure where they are, just that they are near." Skye shrugged. He could sense the others disapproval that he had gone forward alone and tried not to let it bother him.

"What if there was something hostile here?" Trini asked sharply. She hated it when he scared her like that.

"Then I would have sensed it." Skye replied as confidently as possible.

"But..." Billy began with a concerned frown, and Skye let a flash of irritation break through.

"Hey look, who was the one who walked into the Web fungus in the forests of Marav and had to be cut out by the Marav Rangers?" Skye pointed out, half joking, half-serious.

Billy looked flustered.

"Or got stung by the butterfly-scorpions on Thek?"

Trini opened her mouth to retort and paused. "Let's not get into this again...okay point taken, you have been pretty good at avoiding danger, but we've all had our moments. For the sake of our nerves Skye, please tell us what you are doing!"

Skye grinned "Yes mother," he teased.

"And you can cut that out too!" Trini ordered mildly piqued. "We don't have time to mess around!"

They had been to a vast array of worlds even in the months that they had been travelling and had had to learn fast. Some trips had been really successful, others, a complete loss but the mission was progressing and time was vanishing far too swiftly. They could not afford to pass up any sign of Ninjetti, however faint. On this planet though, that appeared to consist of sand and black rocks that clumped together in regular intervals, those signs were very faint indeed. If they didn't trust Skye's instincts they would have just dropped the Zebeedee's and continued on their way.

Billy pulled out a portable scanner and began assessing the area. They were standing in the lee of a dark cliff, edging a glittering white sand basin or salt pan. A little way away from the shadow of the cliff was a circle of black rocks wavering in the heat. Billy raised his eyebrows at the readouts sparkling in front of him. He brushed back his Ninjetti hood revealing his blonde hair.

Skye chuckled softly.

"What?" Trini asked.

"Sorry....it just occurred to me that Billy looks like a high tech Lawrence of Arabia." Skye grinned. Trini twitched a smile in amusement.

"What's the verdict, _effendi?_" she called out and received a short laugh in reply.

"Well if these readings are correct, we are standing on something like a zord bay." Billy said smiling to himself; he guessed they did look like extra's from a desert movie with their Ninjetti hoods wrapped around their faces and heads like turbans. Calling on his enhanced wolf senses he could "smell" a slight variation in the air with artificial vividness. He reached out and found the crack of a concealed entrance. It did not take long to find the control device and trigger it.

"Entrance mechanism," he murmured aloud.

Trini nodded calmly. Her tiger-senses told her a similar story to that which Billy had picked up, but also that this place had been the site of a massive firefight. Some sort of last stand maybe, the rocks look like they had been scorched by intense heat..

She turned to ask Skye what his impressions were only to see him eyes wide with shock as if he couldn't breathe.

"Skye?" She called out worried. The rigour lifted from his face abruptly.

"You okay?" She called. That was very odd, she had never seen him do that before.

"Fine--yeah--fine" he said dazed.

The rumbling of large machinery interrupted them. Billy grinned with success.

"We're in!" he announced triumphantly

"In where?" asked Trini with a questioning gaze, peering into the blackness descending away from them, made even more impenetrable by the brightness and intensity of the sun around them. The shade in itself was very appealing.

"I have no idea" Billy admitted "But time to find out."

They entered the dark interior, with Trini and Billy having no problem owing to their Ninjetti animal spirit enhanced senses and Skye just sensed his way using the Star crystal. Eventually they entered a large chamber that was strangely familiar in design and layout.

"It looks a bit like... the Original Command Centre." Trini said, her voice resounding in the large dark room. There was a strange stone column in the centre of the chamber that appeared to be etched with a sun like design which reminded her of Zordon's Tube in shape and size, but not in substance. Her gaze halted on a strange feature; there appeared to be large oval indentation in the centre of the design. There was obviously something missing that was meant to slot neatly into that gap. Trini traced the design with her sensitive fingers. Interesting. Her fingers ran across something polished as opposed to rough and she discovered a small smooth oval in a crevice on the pillar. She pried it loose with a little difficulty and dropped it into her hand to look at it. It appeared to be a bright glowing stone with a ruby red sun like heart

"Billy?" she called fascinated by the way the light moved and burned inside the little sunstar stone.

"Interesting." Billy commenting, his eyes aglow at the new discovery. He scanned it swiftly. "It has very high energy readings- it actually is not a stone, it appears to be a life-form of some type."

Billy investigated the column further and found hidden away five other of the "Sunstar" organisms, each a slightly different shade of red through to yellow.

"None of them fit the "lock" ..." Trini pointed out. The comparisons between the shape were undeniable.

"What do you make of it?" she handed the deep ruby red one to Skye still concerned about his uncharacteristic lapses a few moments before. As it glowed in his hand the Star Crystal around the Star Ninjetti's neck radiated in response. Skye seemed to snap out of his absent-mindedness and frowned as he gazed into the stone.

"He's onto something" Trini said recognising the look and relieved he seemed to be more himself. The ruby seemed to be drawing strength from the crystal.

"Power readings are increasing," Billy reported raising an eyebrow. Whatever these things were they were powerful. He and Trini collected the others and dropped them one by one into Skye's hands to see what would happen. The effulgence increased greatly.

"Skye?" questioned Trini tentatively a little worried at the pile of what looked like glowing hot coals in his hands.

"Hmmm?"

"Mind telling us what is going on?"

"They are...waking up...listen!" Skye opened his mental blocks and reached out with the Star Crystal and Trini and Billy both heard a sound that best equated to the song of dawn rising over the desert, stirring the haunting breeze and the dance of the ever-shifting sands. There was an undeniable sense of yearning that tugged at the heartstrings, a sense of loneliness.

"They want something" Trini breathed, her words echoing in the still chamber.

"Yes." Skye answered shortly and turned suddenly and began to work purposefully to the surface. The two Ninjetti exchanged glances and followed swiftly.

~*~

They all squinted as they burst out into the harsh sunlight once again. Skye walked towards the circle of standing stones. He stopped. Trini stood behind him

**__**

We are watched, her tigerspirit growled. But by what? There was nothing but stones....but if her tiger spirit said they were watched then they were, and if there was nothing here but stone then it must be the stones doing the watching! Excited she shared her insight with Billy who immediately began inspecting one of the nearer stones in more detail. Sure enough, near its crown, there was a smooth oval patch on its otherwise congealed lava like exterior.

He reached out for one of the Sunstars in his friend's hands and his wolfspirit indicated the bright gold one. Billy gently took the little creature and experimentally pushed it into the oval niche. There was a penetrating hum, and they all suddenly flinched as golden light burned illuminating the inside of the rock. The crust flaked away and a large reptilian biped stretched out and roared, it's scales patterned and gleaming in rich colours, its eyes glowing clear liquid gold. The sunstar oval glittered alive and vital in its forehead as it stretched, towering over the humans by nearly a foot, and displaying a frightening array of bright needle white teeth. It wore little in the way of apparel save some sort of open tunic top marked with the same stylised sun design they had seen on the pillar in the Chamber below. The creature dropped back into a defensive stance as the Ninjetti stood frozen in surprise at what their actions had brought forth. It turned aggressively to face them.

"You are friends?" it asked its tail lashing in agitation. It looked very much prepared for the answer to be "no".

"We are of the Ninjetti..." Trini replied soothingly and then inspiration lead her to add "...and were once Power Rangers of Earth"

Hearing that introduction, the reptilian creature seemed to calm a little and dropped its guard somewhat.

"I am Sisthaa of the Drakin, Sunstar Ranger." announced the strange being formally.

It turned and caught sight of the remaining Sunstars in Skye's hands and with a sibilant hiss of recognition, scooped them up in it's six fingered hands and with astonishing speed and agility bounded to each rock and placed the appropriate one on each stone.

"Close your eyes!" Billy shouted in warning, suddenly realising what would happen when they all became active at once. Even so, the light from the resulting flash was impressive. Their eyes smarted and when they looked up they were surrounded by a dazed group of large reptilian creatures, the smallest of whom was taller than Billy. They were all marked with surprisingly vivid scale patterns in colours ranging from deep reads to pale cream yellow and half of them appeared to have golden eyes, the others, intense green. They all were marked one way or another with the stylised sun symbol and looked to be a fearsome set of warriors. If they turned out to be hostile then the three Ninjetti would have a problem.

__

Lets' just hope that they like Ninjetti, Trini mindspoke to the others nervously.

__

Yeah, agreed Skye and then added with a grin, _and not just as a main course!_

~*~

Billy was astonished. They had assumed that the plight of the Sunstar Rangers had been due to an enemy attack, which it was in a way, but not how they thought.

"So you are saying that C'haal, your mentor petrified the ENTIRE population of Drakan into stone?" asked Billy in surprise.

He had also been surprised to hear there was a large population on Drakan. It just hadn't shown up as the entire place appeared to be in the equivalent of induced fossilisation. It appeared that the black rock formations they had detected were in fact inhabitants and buildings encased in protective stone. The fact that a majority of the planet surface appeared to be scorching hot desert also had not boded well for life being wide spread and they had assumed the potential for allies on this world to be slight. Not for the first time Billy berated himself for basing his thinking on the limits of life that occurred on Earth.

"Yessss...it was necessary." Rislarr replied slightly defensively. They obviously cared a great deal for their mentor, and were quite sensitive to any implied criticism.

Sisthaa looked up. "He took the Great Sunstar and invoked its Power to save us all from the attacks of the Barox, who pulse bombed the planet." She explained.

She looked down seemingly upset. "J'shaar was to be the only one left. He was to take the Great Sunstar and return after the bombings to wake us. But as we underwent the process we were attacked--it was too late to stop, and J'shaar would have been left facing the Barox alone." The tiny fine scales beneath her eyes turned blackish purple with grief and she turned away.

__

No prizes for guessing that they were a couple, Billy mindspoke. Trini nearly nodded.

Hthiss, the smallest Drakin of the group said quietly "J'shaar is ...was our leader."

Nodding in mute sympathy, the Ninjetti spirit warriors expressed their understanding of their loss through Skye's projection of thoughts.

"Without the Great Sunstar, we cannot invoke our Powers as Rangers," explained Othiss "And it is required to free our planet, though I know not how we may combat this problem without our Powers or our leader and mentor."

"But we can still fight!" Faal hissed fiercely "Though it means the end of us all, we will fight this evil." There was a rumble of agreement from her team-mates.

"It is possible..." Billy began, mulling through some thoughts, "That if the Barox have the Great Sunstar they may have captured J'shaar as well. He may be alive." It was a faint chance but mercenaries might believe they would get more for a live Power Ranger than a dead one. If they were still on the planet then there was a possibility they were holding him captive--if he had survives the initial conflict.

Sisthaa looked up her golden eyes clear once again and alive with a faint hope.

"We will help you to recover the Great Sunstar, if you desire our help." continued Billy, pushing his advantage. "What we ask is that you consider an alliance between your people and that of the Ninjetti."

The six Sunstar Rangers exchanged glances. Sisthaa said eventually "C'haal would usually make that sort of decision....but I think we would agree. We would make whatever alliance with the Ninjetti that they would desire."

The three Ninjetti exulted. The Drakin would be strong allies and would make good Spirit Warriors - if they could just free them all from their protective cocoons of stone.

"Then let us make plans." Trini stated with calm authority and as the sunset blazed over the dunes in a spectacular array of colours, the Ninjetti and Drakin Rangers prepared for battle.

~*~

Half way through the battle planning session, Skye suddenly and inexplicably began to feel claustrophobic, as if he couldn't or shouldn't breathe. His vision blurred. There was a sense of pressure around him, a sense of the pressure of water surrounding him - which was crazy! he was sitting in the middle of a desert with parched lips!

__

I'm losing it, he muttered to himself. The panic became overwhelming, a desperation to breathe, a compelling need not to--lungs burning, ears aching, staining upwards towards air..._got to swim faster, faster...got to get away...._

"Skye?" Trini prodded him. He explosively inhaled, gasping.

"Oh...my...god..." he heaved breathlessly.

"What on earth is wrong?" Trini asked concerned. The white-haired artist shook his head in confusion.

"I'm losing it....I'm really losing it..." he said "It felt like...like I was drowning." There, it sounded doubly ridiculous now he had said it.

"What is drowning?" asked Othiss curiously. Explaining the concept of asphyxiation by water to a species whose home planet regarded the phenomenon of rain as a freak occurrence caused a few linguistic problems, but eventually they reached an understanding. Skye desperately tried to shrug the incident off, making light of it.

"I'm probably not used to the heat," he said. The last thing he want was their potential allies to think they had a lunatic in their midst.

Hthiss laughed, a rasping sound like a cough. "This is our 'winter' season. It is to us...somewhat cold."

At that the Ninjetti laughed. "I would love you guys to see snow," Billy said "Maybe if you become Ninjetti Spirit Warriors and all this is over, you might visit Earth and we'll show you oceans and snow...as well as our own deserts. You might like them."

Skye sighed relieved that the issue had been brushed aside and concentrated on preparing for their dawn assault against the mountain base of the Barox.

~*~

This was something that Skye never got used to, being the dead weight of the team. They had been doing this for a good few months now and it hadn't got any better. Every single time battle loomed he felt like he was hindering them, and lord knows it had loomed often enough to make this feeling the rule as opposed to the exception. He knew that Billy and Trini were protective of him and though he appreciated the sentiment he was independent enough to get irritated by it every now and then. He ended up apologising after nearly every battle because he felt guilty they had to put themselves at risk to cover his back. It had happened often enough, and there had been times with each of them that they had experienced damage they shouldn't have if they hadn't protected him. They couldn't lie and say that they didn't have to make allowances but what they usually pointed out was how useful his other abilities were. Great. But now it had to be said it seemed like those oh so wonderful abilities were messing up. His only strength a liability. He didn't dare tell them exactly how unsettled he felt. Sensations were plaguing him from out of nowhere, strange bizarre feelings....cold water, sound of waves...sand, wet sand. Crashing on a shore...spears. There was no explanation for it, no sane explanation anyway.

They had used WolfZord to do a local teleport to the foot of the mountains where the Barox bounty hunters had their base and presumably the Great Sunstar. Skye rolled his eyes as the Drakin leapt from rock to rock in incredible bounds. Trini and Billy out of courtesy to him remained in their human shape. A nice gesture. He sighed. Oh for the Ninjetti agility that was meant to go with the powers. But then he was a Star Crystal Ninjetti, an honorary title at best. Up the rocks he scrambled to the best of his ability. Battle was approaching and it wouldn't do to be late. His bad leg cramped painfully, but he gritted his teeth refusing to be a major liability. He finally arrived to find the other staring intently at the scene before them. They crouched behind the rock looking down at the back entrance to the mountain headquarters seemingly unattended.

Skye sensed forward. Hmm, there were minds down there tucked away in the shadows.. _Two guards,_ he mindspoke to the others.

Billy and Trini nodded and silently indicated to the Drakin that they would flank the guards and that they must be ready to move. As they had planned, Billy and Trini grinned at each other and shimmered into their animal forms, speeding silently out of sight through the rocks and efficiently took out the mercenary guards. The Sunstar Rangers silently jumped from their concealment and with reptile swiftness charged up through the tunnel corridor devastating the guards as Skye, lagging a little behind thought scanned forward and warned them all of their relative positions.

"So far so good," Sisthaa hissed in a whisper as they paused briefly. She was eager to continue, and looked surprised they had made it this far without much in the way of a problem.

Billy and Trini nodded. Practice, practice and more practice had made this sort of thing almost second nature. They had to prove themselves for a pastime whilst trying to convince an ally or Ninjetti Candidates. With Skye warning them and the capabilities of their Spirit Armour they had become almost expert. They signalled to move out ,once again confident they were in control of the situation.

Skye, at the back of the group preparing for the next mindsweep suddenly felt an incredible surge of panic rise up from inside of him that completely destroyed his thought-focus.

__

Heat, heat... Images...Tommy, Kat, the rangers.. a cave. A strange woman, with a mask and a streak of purple hair, a fight...fear....

Suddenly overwhelmed, he missed the ambush of guards waiting for them. Didn't warn them that there was a trap because there was a strange emotion drenched vision clouding his mind.

As Trini, Ethaas, Othiss and Faal lead the charge, a pit yawned opened beneath their running feet, letting them slide abruptly away into darkness. Billy with Wolf reflexes, though unable to stop running, leapt the chasm as did the remaining Sunstar rangers Sisthaa, Rislarr and Hthiss . They cleared the pit and cannoned straight into a group of bounty hunters in what appeared to be the centre of operations.

Billy cursed. This was not turning out well, he should have known better than to get confident. Why hadn't Skye warned them about the trap? That was what he did! And Trini, what had happened to Trini?. The only thing he was sure of was that he would _know_ if something had happened to her. Small comfort at this point in time. Enemies were pouring in all around him seemingly unending.

"Blue Wolf Ninjetti Spirit Armour _now_" He commanded urgently and prepared for the unequal battle before him.

~*~

Trini, as they slipped down the chute towards lord knows what trap, used all her training and skill to focus her mind to a point of calm and shifted into her tiger form. With an excruciating sound of claws screaming down sheet metal, she slowed their tumbling bodies enough for them to guide their descent towards one of the other levels and ledges rather than the fire below them. In an intricate series of moves, she and the other Drakin Sunstar Rangers managed to hook themselves all out of the chute and into the cramped rock tunnel. It was a tight squeeze for a large tiger and three sizeable Drakin Rangers but with a fair amount of pushing and pulling they eventually saw a point of light that was the tunnels' end. Finally, all breathing heavily they emerged into a dark chamber with caged off sections. Trini-Tiger shook herself and became Trini once again. It had taken her a while to master the shape change but she had never been so glad of mastering a skill in her life as she was now.

"That was too close..." she said, thankful for their escape but eager to move on. "We have got to get back up and help the others.!" Billy, dammit...on his own against all those warriors!. Why hadn't Skye warned them?

"This is true" replied Ethass. "It is fortunate that you have claws in that other form." His emerald eyes appeared awed at her ability to shape change.

Trini was about to reply when a flicker of movement caught her eye. She whirled instinctively into a defensive stance.

"Ethass?" a rasping voice said quietly.

The Drakin looked astonished and all of them rushed forward. Trini took this to mean that they probably recognised the captive. _Let me see..._ she thought to herself impatiently, _Two guesses...._

"J'shaar? Is that you?" Faal cried out.

**__**

We do not have time for this! her tigerspirit warned urgently. **_Something is wrong above, it feels wrong._**

Trini felt a rush of fear at her animal spirits words. If is said something was wrong, it met something very wrong. Her tigerspirit usually shrugged off their battles as mere play.

A ragged figure, staggered to its feet in one of the cages. "Faal? Othiss?...I thought...I thought I was dreaming your voices."

Trini saw a pathetically thin and ill looking Drakin limp towards them longingly, yet still not believing what he saw. The three Sunstar Rangers looked at their leader in horror and of one accord the Sunstars in their foreheads blazed and the lock snapped on the cage and the door swung open. Trini could then see that the Drakins' hands were manacled behind him and that some sort of metal band was around his forehead.

**__**

Now, my cub, we must move NOW! her Tigerspirit demanded and she gritted her teeth and barged in on their emotional reunion feeling like an unfeeling monster to get them moving swiftly to save the others.

"I'm sorry, but there is time enough for reunions when we have found the others...we must move now!" she ordered, and without waiting to see if they were following her lead began to run quickly ever upwards through labyrinthine tunnels towards where she sensed the presence of Billy. As soon as the Drakin had freed their leader's hands they followed, caught up in her urgency.

~*~

Skye staggered towards the sounds of battle, over the spot where the pit had been, seeing an entirely different scene before his eyes that over shadowed the reality around him. It was getting more intense by the moment. Still, he staggered into the cavern where Billy and the three Drakin Sunstar Rangers were fighting for their lives against a horde of bounty hunters and space mercenaries. Almost immediately on entering the fray he was hit, and collapsed, more disabled by the vision of absolute horror playing out in his mind than the blast.

Billy leapt up at an ugly black and red warrior being , that appeared to have teeth or claws all over it's body, who seemed to be the leader of the group. The creature swung out a sword from nowhere and despite his mid-air acrobatics he received a powerful hit for his trouble. It flung him across the room and he bounced off the rock wall with a painful yelp escaping his lips. Thinking his foe defeated the dark mercenary laughed and left himself unprepared for the blur of wolf-speed and the dangerous flash of spirit claws that raked his side painfully. As he fell, the wolf warrior was mobbed by a group of his best bounty hunters. The Sunstar Rangers were faring no better again the massive force attacking them and were fighting a losing battle without the ability to call on their full powers. It was only a matter of time before the Barox gained the upper hand.

~*~

Their assault team had been momentarily overwhelmed, and the last strike had caused the wolf Ninjetti to spontaneously unmorph. Vulnerable and bleeding Billy rolled over to face the leader of the bounty hunters who stalked towards him in anticipation.

"You fought well," he said glorying in his triumph, "but no-one strikes Darkonda and does not pay." The bounty hunter frowned. There was no fear in this one's face. He turned and glanced at the other human and made towards him and was gratify to see panic in the wolf warriors blue eyes. The white haired human was conscious although appeared paralysed by fear, his eyes wide and staring whilst his body shook with terror.

"Look at this one..." Darkonda called out to the other mercenaries. "Pale and frozen with fear...and they thought they could raid us!"

The other members of the Barox laughed appreciatively as their leader dragged the beaten Ninjetti up by his clothes and dangled him mid-air. He watched the Wolf Warrior for a reaction and was pleased to see concern in the weakling human's expression. He shook Skye like a rag doll and laughed as Billy tried to struggle to his feet, only to be kicked down again by one of the mercenaries.

"Noooooooo...noooo...oh god no!" cried out Skye in a voice of genuine panic. Darkonda laughed again; this one was far too easy to break. He wondered briefly why the Earth humans had such a reputation throughout the Galaxy. They must have got lucky when they destroyed the Ooze.

Billy couldn't believe it. Skye, whilst the first to admit he was scared, was not one to scream in terror at a threat. Quite the opposite, he usually became very quiet as if hoping that the threat would ignore him. There was something very strange going on. Darkonda raised his weapon to destroy the Star Crystal Ninjetti when Skye suddenly cried out again.

"No! the lava! The _LAVA_!"

As Darkonda looked at his victim in confusion, the Star Crystal Ninjetti let out a despairing horrible scream and went rigid in his grasp. Darkonda dropped him to the floor ready to blast him and be done with it. He had a bad feeling about this, maybe it was a distraction so the Wolf warrior could jump him and destroy him. Best to finish the dangerous one first then deal with this strange weakling human. Making a decision he turned to finish the wolf warrior and found himself inexplicably unable to press the trigger. The expression on the Wolf warriors' face went from surprised triumph to horror.

****

"NO." a commanding voice said behind him. A voice that sent shivers down even Darkonda's spine. He turned to see that pathetic excuse for a human standing, eyes like fresh blood radiating such evil that it chilled even him. There was a strange flickering presence around him as if he was sharing the same space with a monstrous form of lava.

"You will not kill this one." Skye's possessed voice rumbled. "He is a prize, he is a true Ninjetti as is his mate."

Darkonda shrank back "Dark Spectre?" he questioned. There was only one who matched that strange impression of evil and magma form though he was reputed to be huge. That elicited a hollow laugh.

"Is that what my brother calls himself now? You serve that weakling fool? Time was when he was known only as brother to Maligore, with no worlds to call him conqueror." Skye said with harsh derision in his voice.

"I serve no one....my skill is for hire," Darkonda said proudly. He had no Master, he had only clients, those which paid highly for his services and who he selected carefully for the power they could bring him. The possessed human snorted in derision at his bravado.

"All creatures serve ME!" bellowed the presence of Maligore. **"ON YOUR KNEES!"**

He swept his arm across the room and without their volition the entire crowded chamber were compelled to drop to their knees.

"You serve me now!" said Maligore irrevocably and it was not even a demand, just a statement of an unpleasant fact. "Why are you here?" he asked another trembling mercenary.

"We were hired by Master Vile to subdue the population so they could mine the rare Lassin metal. I...I do not know why..." choked out the Barox bounty hunter. He had fought hideous beasts and survived conflict time and time again and none of them filled him with the same amount of fear as this being.

Maligores' presence scoffed. "They all play the game to be first in line when the One returns....A gift of real Ninjetti warriors to the One to wreck his vengeance upon would mean more than weapons or wealth. Even in my dark sleep I hear It approach. My brother no doubt would torture them or kill them if he had them, hating them as does the One. A waste. He always was blind to the obvious opportunity sometimes."

Skye stalked over towards where Billy was lying wonder what the hell was going on. The Wolf Ninjetti looked up at his friend and saw nothing of him there in those malice filled blood-eyes.

"UP! Now." Ordered the Maligore presence. The Star Crystal flared exerting a twisted compulsion to obey.

Inside of him Billy's wolf-spirit growled and snarled at the Star Crystal Ninjetti, hackles raised.

**__**

Wolf-enemy, pack-destroyer, cub-killer.... it snapped, but Billy was helpless to stop himself from rising to his feet. He stared into the scarlet eyes willing Skye to come back calling out to him with his mind ignoring the growls and threats of his wolf-spirit.

__

Fight it Skye, I know you can....fight it, for me, for Trini, for all the Sunstar Rangers... he mindspoke urgently.

"Stop that!" Skye's voice said sharply. He tightened his hand on empty space and Billy began to choke, feeling a phantom hand close about his windpipe. "I rule this one's body, as I rule the ones given to me through the fire. Three for the price of two...what beautiful irony."

Billy scrabbled at his throat, trying to free himself from the invisible grip that was asphyxiating him, his thoughts fragmenting under the pressure to survive, to breathe.

"Skye! Skye please..." he choked out. His vision began to swim and fade as he was starved of oxygen.

The Maligore presence laughed. "He thinks you might be the key...did you know that? Pathetic. He has no idea of what approaches, that you or any of you might stand against it. Still, if he is correct then I will certainly be above Dark Spectre, or any of those others fighting for position. There is no way you can win." He laughed, a deep alien laugh that filled the wolf Ninjetti with fear for more than his own precarious hold on life.

He released the stranglehold and Billy gasped for breath convulsively, dropping to his knees heaving and coughing.... All around him, Drakin Rangers and mercenaries alike were poised on the edge of moving, struggling against that which held them locked in position. Skye/Maligore gestured and a painful energy wrapped around him like a snake binding him tight in glowing black and red coils of fire and shadow. Struggling, Billy pleaded with Skye once again in his mind, sending his thoughts as loudly and insistently as possible, but the more he moved the tighter the energy squeezed. For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of recognition, the lava form impression faded somewhat and the bonds loosened. Heartened, he tried again and caught the tail end of a strange vision.

__

Jason and Tommy fighting....Jason with blood red eyes...her own opponent, Kat pleading with her, her filled with hatred for her. I am Maligore's child....repeating over and over in her mind. A fight a long and bloody fight and she was losing....It could not be that she was losing...! The hold was beginning to break....

Skye shook his head obviously conscious of the vision. "No! Fight my Children! Fight! We cannot be defeated...it is Written!" Seeming somewhat desperate he turned and gestured to Darkonda indicating the Sunstar Rangers.

"Destroy these lizards, I have no use for them."

Darkonda unwilling to risk his own hide by defying him turned to issue the order when suddenly another Ninjetti, golden and bright, somersaulted into the chamber and it erupted into chaos.

~*~

Trini had never been so furious in her entire life. As she finally approached the chamber and could hear voices, it was Skye who she could hear. Skye turned evil. No wonder he led them into a trap! What was he doing to Billy? Choking him? Killing him? She needed to free Billy, she needed him to be safe with all of her being. She was afraid that she would lose control of her anger and fail him somehow but she could not deny the rage building within. She fought to supress that instinct but that only seemed to make it worse.

**__**

Patience, young one, channel that energy into a focussed force, said the tigerspirit in her mind, **_I will show you now the power of unleashed energy released through deadly harmony. When you are one with your emotions and yet you are not ruled by them then you have touched the heart of the Tiger; and a tiger dances through the world touching all that it wills with it's Power, and nothing can stop it. Dance the dance of the Tiger, young warrior...let the feeling flow..._**

And there, suddenly in her mind was that instinct rising to the surface, not a suppression of her feelings, but a harmonisation and active outlet. She leapt into the conflict without waiting for the others and began the deadly Tiger Dance in a blur of golden transcendent light.

Billy could not believe it, Trini moved with a deadly grace that she flowed and burned around the room in lithe incredible movement, devastating their ranks with a touch. He had seen her fight before and she had always moved with a sense of control, of restraint. There was no restraint present here, he was stunned at the way she flowed past through the Barox like an unbridled force. It was if she was not fighting at all but people happen to get defeated as she danced past them, untouched. Leaps and somersault flowed into molten gold Power, a tiger tail of burning light in her wake until she finally came face to face with the Maligore possessed form of Skye.

Trini was transported to another realm of awareness by the Tiger Dance where the world around her seemed less substantial than the glowing gold light that filled and connected everything that she flowed through. It was an intoxicating feeling, at once calm and yet her emotions and instincts running riot. She drew near to Skye and saw on this other level nothing but an overshadowing darkness and the roaring lava shape of Maligore.

Her Tiger spirit reacted with animal rage. **_A destroyer of spirit!_** It accused and swept up in the harmonies of the Tiger Dance, she launched a massive burst of Ninjetti energy at the monster, only realising too late that it would also strike the form of her friend. In that horrified realisation, the Tiger Dance fell apart and she was no longer an invulnerable dancing golden light but a warrior who feared she had inadvertently destroyed a friend.

The force of the Ninjetti blast threw Skye backwards as it spent its power on the evil clinging to him. It was enough to make the Maligore presence shriek in horror and lose its grip so that Skye could finally throw it from his mind just before he hit the ground unconscious. The moment he passed out Billy's bonds snapped and he launched into the fray, healed enough to fight back to back with Trini and the Sunstar Rangers. This was too much for the Barox bounty hunters and Darkonda yelled out, "Retreat! We have what we came for...we have fulfilled the contract, now lets get out of here!"

Truth be told he was very disturbed by what had occurred. He had paid little heed to the rumours that had been rippling around the galaxy of the impending return of an immense evil force, but now he was not so sure. If Maligore were out of the picture, maybe he should get himself hired to Dark Spectre. Master Vile was powerful, but he did not have that presence, that compelling evil that had emanated from the possessed human. He had survived this long by knowing who to work for and what side to be on as well as where the money was, and his instincts told him that Dark Spectre was probably the one to be beholden to. And then maybe when the time was right, he would take advantage of that evil being's weaknesses.

He grabbed the Great Sunstar as he ran, only to be cannoned into by the Wolf Ninjetti. Instinctively he threw the large gem at the warrior.

"Take it! I will not waste a life on the likes of you!" He fled by warping space around him and vanishing from sight as Billy staggered back under the weight of the precious object.

~*~

Billy got up cradling the Great Sunstar in his arms. It was warm and heavy and felt alive and bursting with Power and none the worse for its rough treatment. He belatedly remembered Skye and Trini's confrontation and limped back to the chamber as fast as he was able. Trini looked up, mortified, as she pulled Skye into a sitting position.

"I couldn't even really see it was him," she said in a guilty rush "All I could see was a great darkness, because I was looking through tiger eyes."

Billy winced as he bent over. His Ninjetti healing had not quite kicked in fully. "I can't see any marks, or injuries." In fact their friend looked as if he was peacefully sleeping.

**__**

He will recover in due course, said his wolfspirit softly. **_A Ninjetti spirit blast should only permanently harm that which is of Evil spirit. That is why we are the ones to fight the great Evil for we can wound it where weapons cannot._**

Billy let out a sigh of relief and mentally filed away that interesting bit of information. "He'll be fine," he reassured and in a conscious effort to lighten the tone added. "He's just sleeping on the job."

The pair smiled a little at the shared joke. They both teased Skye about his tendency to fall asleep after utilising his abilities, and after leaving Phaedos he had slept for nearly three whole days before he recovered from the mindbonding that had enabled them to produce the Zord Maintenance Droids so vital to their mission.

The artist shifted and stirred opening his eyes as if emerging from a deep dream and sat bolt upright as the memories of what had occurred overwhelmed him. Those horrible visions and what he had done whilst he screamed behind the presence of Maligore, who would have delighted to have indulged himself by killing his friends slowly and painfully, but who had reluctantly decided they were more valuable alive. That final searing golden fire burst from Trini that had burned through his mind like a cleansing river of molten metal, excruciating but welcome as it cauterised the evil presence from within. What could he say to his friends who he had nearly killed, to those he had caused pain?

"I am so sorry...." Skye said feeling every word weighted with inadequacy. He had nearly killed them both, and all the Drakin Sunstar Rangers. The stupidest thing was that he didn't have a clue how it had happened or whether it might happen again. He could barely look at them he was so ashamed.

"It's okay, you weren't yourself..." Billy said understandingly. "Though I am still trying to figure out what happened myself."

"I guess I should have told you that I was getting strange sensations all the way here." Skye apologised with a guilty look up at his friends.

Trini met his downcast gaze "Yes you should." She replied bluntly, and then seeing his hurt look continued. "It is not weak of you to admit you have a problem. You are not a hindrance to us! I had to put up with enough of that from Billy when we first became Power Rangers!" She glanced slyly over at the Blue Ninjetti and grinned at his discomfiture.

"Let's not go over that again," Billy said going bright red with embarrassment and Skye smiled a little in response to the teasing.

"Listen, the Drakin are waiting for us," Trini finally said. "We best get this Great Sunstar back to their Solar Chamber or whatever they've been calling it."

"Mmm. J'shaar doesn't look so good." Billy muttered. Indeed the leader of the Sunstar Rangers was trying, with the help of his team to take of the metal band restraint around his forehead. Eventually they succeed but to the watching Ninjetti's dismay they all seemed really distressed.

And then Billy saw why; the Sunstar organism seemed grey and lifeless in his forehead.

"I understand now why he couldn't free himself..." Trini whispered. It had concerned her as they had been fighting if he had the power the others displayed then why hadn't he picked the lock or escaped himself. It appeared that his captors had been well versed in his abilities before they imprisoned him.

"It looks like they need the sun to survive" Billy deduced. "Maybe we should get him outside."

The Sunstar Rangers agreed, and they hurried to leave the place of their victory.

Out in the powerful heat of the Drakin daytime, still there seemed no life from the lacklustre sunstar. Sisthaa looked distressed and rested her hand comfortingly on the starved form of their friend and erstwhile leader.

Trini shook here head "I can't stand this, it reminds me so much of when Tommy lost his powers."

Billy nearly flinched. He doubted that Powerloss would ever be an easy subject for him to deal with.

"Believe me I sympathise. Giving them up is one thing, having them die in you must be quite another" he said trying to subdue his memories.

Like when the coins had been destroyed and they had just...drained away, as if blood was flowing from his veins taking his life with it. They had never really spoken about what that had felt like amongst themselves as Rangers and he wondered if the willing transference of Power that Trini had made had effected her in the same way. He shook his head at the way his thoughts were wandering and signalled to the others to prepared for teleportation.

~*~

They teleported back to the Solar Chamber and with due reverence the Drakin took the Great Sunstar and placed it on the column, in the centre of the Sun design. The three humans held their breath expectantly.

Nothing happened.

Apparently this was to be expected, as the Drakin turned and filed back out of the chamber. The Ninjetti exchanged amused glances and then shrugged as they returned to the surface.

"It must gain enough energy to activate, and when the Sun is directly over the Chamber, it will do so," explained Hthiss as they sat waiting. "Besides, it is best that we are not standing next to it when releases its' full Power. That would not be wise."

The tiny scales around the smallest Drakins' forest green eyes glittered gold in a fashion that seemed to be their equivalent of a smile, and Trini found herself smiling in response to his quiet irony.

Skye couldn't help but note that they had drawn away from them...from him as if unsure of his actions. He sighed. All their efforts to win them as allies might fail because of him, because they could not be sure that they could trust him. And what he had done to Billy! He could have killed him! Well he came pretty close even when he hadn't been really trying!

__

I heard that, Billy mindspoke. _Will you stop that? It wasn't your fault!_

Oh yeah? Skye replied bitterly, _I heard your wolfspirit hurling curses at me, I don't think they make mistakes._

****

They were true up to a point--I forgot myself in the heat of battle, the wolfspirit replied sheepishly, **_they were not directed at you, but at that evil one._**

I admit I did the same, Trini's tigerspirit spoke up, **_I struck at that enemy of spirit not thinking there might be harm to you._**

Well you are a cat after all, the wolfspirit teased, **_we plan, you react._**

React? And what is wrong with that? You over think things, you don't cultivate the harmony for rightness... replied the tigerspirit with warning growl.

**__**

We do...in a different way...look...sometimes following the instincts leads to self-destructive behaviour... the wolf began earnestly.

The humans groaned. Once embroiled in a discussion, that was it. They would get nothing useful from their animal spirits until they had wrangled the issue to pieces.

"I'm sorry I asked" Skye muttered. He turned to the Ninjetti " The fact remains that it won't sound good to their Mentor, one of the Council of the Wise by all accounts, if they came close to destruction because I was overwhelmed by an Evil force--what are the chances of them agreeing to an Alliance then?"

Billy looked at a loss for comforting words. The truth was that he couldn't say how they might react, and truth be told he would feel much better about the whole situation if he could work out why his friend had suddenly been overwhelmed by this Maligore presence. Was it likely to happen again? Did that mean he would have to watch him every moment? What if he tried to kill him again or worse...Trini?

Skye got up suddenly and just walked away and Billy mentally cursed. He must have let some of those thoughts leak out towards his friend without realising it. He kept forgetting how much more sensitive the artists mindtouch had become after hisconstant practice with the Star Crystal since they left Earth.

"Skye?" Trini called after him with a slight frown. "Where are you going?"

"Just leave him" Billy said with a sigh "That's my fault. He must have picked up some of my doubts about him."

"Oh Billy you didn't..."

He nodded miserably " You know me...I can't help pursuing the options to their logical conclusion."

~*~

Skye sat down heavily on the other side of the dune. There were some big disadvantages to being able to pick up thoughts from another person. Billy's wayward thoughts had struck a nerve; what if he did try to kill his friends?. He sighed. Here they were having theoretically won a great victory and no one seemed happy. Billy and Trini were worried about him, he was worried about them and what he might do and the Drakin were worried about J'shaar. It was then he realised that he could hear someone else's thoughts

__

I'm crippled...a crippled Ranger, what use would I be to them? Worse than useless--a liability! We are meant to protect and that is impossible for me now. I've lost the Power, it's gone...

Who was that? For some strange reason an image of Rocky flashed into his mind for a split second before he realised the thoughts alien flavour. It was the strength of emotion behind them that was bringing them into his mind.

__

Maybe if I crept down towards the Solar Chamber, I would be gone in a moment when the Sunstar brings life back to Drakan. Then I would not be a burden, I would not harm them... then they would never know what happened to me at the mountain...

J'shaar! Focussing a little more, Skye realised the Drakin was close by and he found him further round the curve of the dune. He sat down next to him ignoring the hiss of surprise.

"Misery loves company," he said by way of a self-invitation. He decided to be blunt. "I don't think Sisthaa would appreciate you throwing yourself in front of the great Sunstar as it flared. I imagine she might be a little upset."

"How do you know about Sisthaa?" J'shaar said sounding flustered.

"You mean no-one else does?" Skye laughed shortly. "I think you'll find they might have an idea now--you ought to have seen her when she thought you were dead."

"Relationships between Power Rangers are not encouraged. It makes for imbalance and weakness in the team." J'shaar said by way of explanation.

Skye felt his mouth drop open in astonishment. "That's a Drakin rule is it, a Sunstar Ranger rule?"

"No, a Power Ranger rule," J'shaar said in surprise of his ignorance.

Skye shook his head. The Power Rangers of Earth were obviously bending the rules more than a little, especially after the curing of Kimberley. "Still, why would you want to leave her? She would love you with or without the Power."

"Don't you understand?" J'shaar flared up angrily. "I was seeking a swift end, rather than put them through the horror of watching me die slowly from Powerloss."

"What are you talking about? You don't die from Powerloss." Skye said incredulously.

"Most species do eventually, usually within weeks." Explained J'shaar as if to a child. "Often they go insane first , and if they do not die that is how they remain for the rest of their lives, and that is what I wish to spare the others. I might hurt them before I die. Why do you think they say Once a Ranger, always a Ranger?"

Skye was stunned. "Dear God. But Billy and Trini both gave up the Power....If you want to speak to someone about Powerloss then Billy is your man."

"Are they immune?" asked J'shaar hopefully.

"No...not exactly" Skye said remembering the events on Phaedos. Thinking about it, maybe they did go a little crazy after giving up the Powers, but not to the extent of destroying themselves. "They just seem to...adapt eventually."

"Then that is good for them. It changes nothing for me," J'shaar said fatalistically. The tiny scales under his dark jade eyes glittered black with despair.

"I will not accept that this is the only option," Skye said firmly and reach out to touch the Drakin. J'shaar flinched away from his touch and it hurt him to feel the distrust and suspicion radiate from the reptilian creature.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. If there is one thing I can do it is healing. I may not be a Power Ranger or even a true Ninjetti Warrior but I can do healing." Skye reassured. "Please....let me try to help...to make up for what I nearly did to you all."

J'shaar nodded reluctantly and Skye gently placed one hand on the Star Crystal and the other on his patient. He began to fix the battered and abused body, old wounds and new, wounds that he could feel immense emotional pain behind and that he knew the Sunstar Ranger would never want the others to know about.

__

If you were human I'd call you Tommy, he thought softly to himself. He moved to the area most in need of healing. As he ran his hands over the dead Sunstar there was a feeling of falling over a great chasm but for a moment, a brief moment he felt something else.

"Hold on just a moment," he murmured aloud "What have we here?" and a smile spread slowly across his face. A tiny, faint flutter, like the heartbeat of a baby mouse, brushed against his mind. Skye decided just to go with his instincts and poured the energy of the Star Crystal towards that flickering point.

"What...what are you doing?" J'shaar gasped feeling a burning ache in his forehead "Hurts! Ahhh stop! It hurts!"

Skye heard nothing but the increasing sound of a heartbeat growing stronger and stronger, until he no longer had to push energy, instead it began to feed, drawing from him and the Star Crystal.

~*~

Sisthaa had just come to Billy and asked whether he had seen J'shaar when they heard a strangled cry. The entire group turned and ran as one towards the sound and as they broached the top of the dune they saw the very incriminating sight of Skye with his hands firmly clamped over J'shaar's forehead whilst the Drakin writhed and cried out in pain. Othiss roared in anger and the Sunstar in his head flared to strike down the Star Ninjetti. Billy hesitated only a moment before knocking the Sunstar Ranger to the sand.

"Don't shoot!" cried out Trini desperately holding up a hand to forestall the Sunstar Rangers from further action, praying that Maligore had not touched Skye again and that she was making a mistake in protecting him.

"He is hurting J'shaar!" Sisthaa shouted her eye scales pale yellow with fear.

"He wouldn't do that!" Trini said immediately defensive. But the evidence of their eyes seemed to disprove her words.

With that J'shaar gave a final convulsive heave that knocked the Star Ninjetti to the ground and he sat there with his hand clamped firmly to his head and shudders running through his body.

"Did he harm you J'shaar?" Faal asked with deep concern. There was a long pause

"No" said the Drakan said eventually, looking up revealing his eyescales glittering gold with good humour. "No, quite the opposite."

He took his hand away from his forehead, and there, gleaming a deep garnet purple tinged red, shone his Sunstar. The other Drakin stood astonished and Sisthaa looked so shocked and relieved that J'shaar got up to steady her before she fell down.

He looked down at the recumbent form of Skye and asked finally, "Is he all right?"

Billy grinned with relief checking his friend. "Just sleeping on the job--Again!"

He exchanged a private relieved glance with Trini. For a brief moment he had wondered if his friend had been possessed again and had dreaded that this time he would have had to take some severe action. But he had felt nothing from his wolfspirit and decided for once to trust those instincts rather than the evidence of his eyes.

**__**

A lesson well learned,, the wolfspirit said sagely and then pricked up it's ears. **_You might want to steady yourself, it is time to greet the rebirth of the Great Sunstar._**

And so it was that Skye managed to miss the climatic moment of their mission on Drakan for as they stood marvelling at J'shaar's recovery, the Sun reached it's zenith and the Great Sunstar flared life all over the desert Planet. The very air seemed to glow and pulsate with varicoloured light. It was not like a wave or a beam but something that appeared to burst forth from the planets' heart. The ground shook and seemed to emanate energy that filled them with life and an unbounded optimism. In the distance, the black rock formations that covered the surface of the planet began to fall away and revealed the reptilian inhabitants of this world and their revitalised cities and the Sunstar Rangers roared in triumph as their home returned to them once more.

~*~

C'haal, the Drakin mentor, was even more imposing for the fact that he could step out of his transdimensional tube and towered above even the other Drakin. It seemed that their species carried on slowly growing over the years, and that C'haal was _very_ old. He was an imposing sight, and he had an immediate stern presence, harder than Zordon but just as compelling.

Billy, Trini and the reawakened Skye waited whilst the Sunstar Rangers respectfully made their report. Then the massive Drakin gestured for the Ninjetti to step forward.

"You do Honour to the name of Ninjetti" C'haal said his voice rich and booming. "I am told you bring a message."

Billy bowed and stepped forward and intoned formally, "The Sun Goes Down, Beware the Darkness Visible" he said clearly as he had many times over the past few months. There was the sound of whispers of fear echoing in the sunlit Solar Chamber as the Sunstar Rangers reacted to their news.

"What you have spoken is a horror beyond horror to our way of life." C'haal intoned. "We are descendants of the first Sun, it is the life-force of our people, and a Vision of the Sun plunging into darkness is the worst imaginable omen. From whence does this Vision come?"

Trini stepped forward and explained with consummate calm. "From the foresight of the nearly extinct Ninjetti, who placed the Wardstones that set warning of the Zha'Khee-ree'aa. The Ninjetti seek to stand against the coming against the Ancient Evil and request Alliance with your people and candidates to join our ranks." All those seminars at the Peace talks had prepared her admirably for situations like this.

C'haal nodded "There are those who are suitable. There is need for haste, I felt the warning before the coming of the Barox--but I am troubled by this talk of an Evil presence in one of you." His ancient malachite green eyes dark and piercing fixed on Skye who was trying to look inconspicuous.

Billy tried to control his disappointment but opted to tell the truth. "We too are troubled that it might occur again." He said aloud wincing internally at the lack of trust that he thought he was displaying in his friend.

C'haal beckoned to Skye with a long talon "Come, I would look into your mind to determine why the Evil entered you."

Skye nervously approached and knelt as the ancient lizard placed his six-fingered hand on his white hair with a gentle touch. The mindtouch however, was anything but delicate and Skye followed his thoughts, wincing painfully as if he was having a tooth drilled as the Drakin probed unmercifully at the events of the past day.

Eventually C'haal spoke. "This young one was not directly possessed by Evil for the Star Crystal prevents that from occurring. Maligore took control of another with whom you are linked through energy and he was sensitive to the echo of his presence from within."

The Ninjetti looked at each other trying to decipher this puzzle. Nothing leapt to mind.

"I see an impression of a birdspirit of the Great Power." C'haal volunteered helpfully.

"Your healing bond with Kim!" Trini said suddenly, "Would it work even over this great distance?."

"Of course!" Skye said very much relieved at finding an answer of any sort. "I had nearly forgotten about it!"

"If the emotions were strong enough then there is no reason why he wouldn't pick it up" Billy said thoughtfully. Thinking about it, it made complete sense.

Skye shuddered "Believe me they were strong enough!" Kimberly must have been fighting for her life, and for her spirit against that evil presence. That was emotion enough to connect them both across the vastness of space.

"But if that was just an echo...and Maligore had that sort of power over us...then what happened to Kim and the others?" Billy asked horrified remembering the fragments of conflict he had picked out of Skye's mind. It looked really intense and he hadn't been there to help them.

C'haal's eyescales gleamed a bronze shade of tolerant amusement. "You are still alive--therefore they defeated the menace."

"But will it happen again?" Skye asked "Am I going to have to watch out for being possessed at any time?" He wasn't sure he could stand that. Now he truly understood how Tommy felt about being made evil for so long. You felt vulnerable even after the effect was banished, helpless against the fact of it happening again.

"It appears that the Earth Power Rangers defeated the Maligore presence, a feat worthy of great praise." C'haal acknowledged. "Therefore it is unlikely that this will happen again, though you remain connected to this other one."

The Ninjetti found the thought of a tenuous connection to home, however unreliable, somewhat comforting and Skye smiled broadly as he realised he was in the clear. The three Ninjetti arranged themselves once again before the Drakin mentor.

"Your answer C'haal?" Billy pressed his eyes glittering expectantly.

"You have proved your worth, as Dulcea foretold," rumbled the ancient Drakin, "And you have fulfilled in your retrieval of the Great Sunstar a criteria that binds our people in a sacred oath, stronger than any political Alliance. I will send candidates to Phaedos and our forces will come when the call goes forth. We will also speak to our sister and brother planets of Quath and Ransoon who owe us a pledge of loyalty, and draw them into our cause." He paused before adding on a more informal note, "And we offer our thanks for restoring one of our own to health. You have our personal debt of gratitude."

The Ninjetti flushed deeply at those words and then straightened up. They turned and looked at one another. Billy, Trini and Skye grinned with delight. Three planets worth of Ninjetti Candidates from one mission! This would help immeasurably. All three bowed in deep respect for the mentor of the Sunstar Rangers and then overcome with excitement, turned and hugged each other in triumph.

"Like winning the lottery!" Trini whispered in Billy's ear as they embraced. They felt more optimistic than they had before about what they were doing,

__

Though you are going to have to work on some of these battle plans of yours Billy, Skye needled, back to his old self. _I could be wrong but I think Trini noticed a couple of holes in this last one..._

Trini groaned and chuckled at the same time and tried to swat the artist on the arm. _That's terrible!_

Billy laughed aloud. _What can I say? Tommy and Jason were the combat tacticians, I just tagged along. It's not like we have Zordon or Dulcea telling us what to do....so I guess for a little while you are just going to have to watch your step when it comes to holes in my battle strategy._

He smiled wickedly at Skye. _And you better hope that Kim is paying all her bills at home otherwise you might be...repossessed!_

Skye rolled his eyes and they all burst out laughing, taking the horror out of the situation for them all with a little bit of flippant humour. _What no comment from the esteemed animal spirits on our victory?_ he mindspoke.

Billy snorted _I expect they are only halfway through the spiritual cat and dog fight.. Remind me again why we have animal spirits?_

Trini smiled sweetly _Because they were on offer with the Spirit Armour? Buy one get one free? _

There was immediately some indignant mental spluttering from their animal spirits and all three of them fell about laughing, and by the time they had finished they felt filled once again with enthusiasm for the immense task before them.

C'haal and the Sunstar Rangers looked on amused by the exuberance of the young humans until they finally calmed down.

"And what is your next destination Ninjetti?" asked the J'shaar curiously.

Skye and Trini looked to Billy who was plotting their strange course through the reaches of space. The Wolf Ninjetti smiled and his blue eyes sparkled as he revealed in a resounding voice that was a blatant impression of Tommy,

"Back to Aquitar!"

### End


	8. Down to a Sunless Sea

**__**

Disclaimer: Saban owns virtually everything in the world! (To do with Power Rangers that is). Anything else that you don't recognise I made up and as such probably belongs to me. This is the eighth in the Sun Goes Down series, and it does help to have read the others, particularly the Twilight section. Now I've got that out of the way, I hope you enjoy reading it!

### Down to a Sunless Sea  
by Peregrine
    
    "Aquitar!" Billy breathed in recognition as a predominantly sea blue jewel of a world swam into view of the WolfZords' visual sensors. The two Ninjetti sitting together looked out eagerly at the ocean world, whilst Skye packed up what they needed for planetfall in the back cabin. After the great deserts of Drakan this blue world of water was like seeing home floating in space before them. For the first time since they left Earth they were going into a familiar situation, at least to one of them which would be a great relief. It would be nice to have a more relaxing mission, without this constant requirement to prove themselves to gain potential Ninjetti warriors or allies. Billy, in particular, had an unshakeable conviction that the Aquitians would help them without the need to fight anything or undergo any sort of bizarre initiation ritual. He blushed a little as the recollection of that ceremony on Gaalladroon, in which they were all required to participate to cement the alliance, flicked across his minds eye in vivid detail--A ritual that all three of them had vowed never to speak of again. He hastily buried the thought.

"I thought you didn't like water or fish" Trini needled as she manoeuvred the linked Tigerzord and Wolfzord into orbit around the ocean world.

Billy coughed in embarrassment. "I sort of had to get used to it when I came here for that prolonged stay...though I admit I was not as keen on staying in Cesmaria and Talis--of course it was like being eaten by a large starfish as the cities are massive modified marine organisms. That was REALLY difficult to deal with even if I thought I had faced and conquered my phobia." He shuddered unconsciously at the remembrance of that first time of entering those cities and that dawning realisation that he was wandering around inside a living being.

Trini smiled quietly at his expression, her dark eyes sparkling, but Billy continued oblivious to her silent amusement. 

"They are a couple of the deep water cities. Quitaria and Sulis are shallow reef cities and large portions are above the surface." 

Billy's eyes misted with memory "The reef lagoons of Sulis are the colours of the rainbow, and at sunset we used to watch the _mesree_--a species of flying fish--dance trailing phosphoresce from lagoon to lagoon." He smiled to himself nostalgically as recall swept him away on a wave of images.

Trini looked up suddenly concerned. There was something in his voice that alerted her senses, that paranoid sense that appeared to develop when you gain a significant other. We? _We used to watch the sunset?_ Her tiger spirit stirred.

"Sounds beautiful" she said casually trying to provoke more of a response, "Sounds to be the most beautiful sight on the planet." 

"Hmmm" Billy replied absently lost in memories. "Cestria said that it was a world renowned sight but Eternal Falls and the Singing Ice Fields are among the wonders of the galaxy." 

So, Cestria was her name. Why had he never talked about her before? Come to think of it, he had never really told any of them what had happened on Aquitar before he had returned. It had been the longest time before she had known he had even left the planet! Trini's legendary calm was shaken in a way that battles and monsters could not touch. She glowered inwardly feeling distinctly unsettled, a feeling that was more alien to her than all the strange worlds and peoples they had experienced. She tried all the calming exercises she knew and on the surface seemed her normal serene self but inside it felt like some vital supporting part of her had been abruptly kicked out from underneath her.

Billy continued, totally unaware of the effect he was having on her. "You better disengage Tigerzord and leave it in orbit--we'll take WolfZord down yeah?" he said taking his place at the controls and already starting the procedure.

Irrationally, Trini felt a stirring of irritation and clamped it down swiftly "Fine." she said shortly and strode off. Billy blinked in surprise and shook his head bemused. 

"Ooo might have been a bit abrupt there Billy boy," he muttered to himself "A little bit pushy." He kicked himself mentally a couple of times. 

Sometimes he felt like he didn't understand her at all. He loved her, but he didn't always understand her. Sometimes that all encompassing calmness and serenity that she projected made her opaque to his perception. He'd never been the best person in the world at intuitively knowing what others were thinking or feeling though he could usually rationalise it out in the end. Occasionally, he wished that he could keep Skye's mindlink open to her all the time, but the link drained the Star Crystal Ninjetti, so they had agreed to limit it to essential use only. You could barely describe trying to work out if Trini was mad at him about some trivial misunderstanding as their number one priority. It seemed that on Drakan Skye had spent half the time asleep because of overusing his abilities one way or another, and he was still annoyed because he had missed the spectacular moment when the Great Sunstar had revitalised the world. So it had been quite a while since they had used the mindtouch for anything that was not completely necessary. He wondered what the telepathic Aquitians would make of his friends' abilities, though they themselves did not use them on a regular basis. With a brief sigh, but a rapidly growing sense of anticipation Billy opened a channel to the surface of Aquitar and requested landing permission on the Power Ranger frequency and, as expected, was given clearance almost immediately.

~*~

They touched down WolfZord on one of the few landmasses that dotted the vast Aquitar Ocean near to the home city of the Aquitian Rangers, Ce'Resma. As they exited Wolfzord, Billy, Trini and then Skye could see a group of figures waiting for them. 

He heard Skye chuckle behind them and whisper to Trini. "Where's the red carpet and the brass band?" and knew without having to look that Trini was half-smiling whilst trying to remain serious. 

The Alien Rangers were there to meet them fully outfitted in formal attire, but Billy recognised immediately that they were a somewhat different team than those he had worked with. The White and Blue Rangers were different for a start and he tried to hide his disappointment but then he smiled as he recognised Cestro and Delphine and of course Cestria approaching from the right of them. When they were all assembled he stepped forward and formed the handsign for "greetings to close friends".

He bowed smiling at the solemn faced Aquitians. "Greetings!"

"It is good to meet you Peacemaker." the new white Alien Ranger replied. "It is a great honour to welcome you once more to the Oceans of Aquitar." The assembled Alien Ranger team bowed in union. 

Billy flushed slightly at the honorific they named him; some sort of meaningful term they had tagged onto him after that business with the Hydrocontanimators. They had never fully explained what it had meant and to be honest he had just regarded it as comparatively self explanatory. 

"It is good to return to Aquitar and to see so many good friends." Billy responded struggling to remember the appropriate greeting swirl. If it was done the wrong way or heaven forbid the wrong height, you could be proposing anything from a simple greeting to a willingness to bear the other persons children or a request for the Aquitian equivalent of an aspirin. He smiled as he evidently got it right. 

Trini and Skye remained silent but exchanged amused glances as they watched Billy for once monopolised the rather formal conversation. They considered themselves well out of it. 

"Welcome back Billy" Delphine said in a surprisingly warm tone and Billy, more sensitive now as a Ninjetti spirit warrior felt the warm brush of her mind against his and grinned as he focused his own Ninjetti powers through his wolfspirit crystal and touched her mind in response. She blinked in surprise. 

"You have the powers again?" Delphine asked tilting her head in question.

"That would be highly ironic" Cestro commented "As we have recently given up the powers to Talestra and Rideous." 

The former Blue Alien Ranger looked even more solemn than Billy remembered and the Ninjetti warrior frowned a little to himself. There was more to this than was at first apparent. 

Billy continued allowing himself a small smile at the news that he was about to impart. "I am a Ninjetti Spirit Warrior now, the Blue Wolf Spirit Warrior." 

Cestria smiled shyly in return, an expression that was obviously not common to their people. "I am so pleased for you Billy." 

Billy grinned back warmly and Trini felt her tigerspirit growling within her mind. She cautioned herself against leaping to snap judgements of people on the basis of conjecture and spurious conclusions. Then she cautioned herself to stop sounding like Billy on a bad day.

There was a long pause until Billy finally remembered to introduce them all to each other. "I would like to present Trini Kwan, former yellow Ranger of Earth and now Gold Tiger Ninjetti Spirit Warrior." 

The Aquitian's bowed in respect and Trini returned the courtesy. She too felt the telepathic mindtouches featherlight on her thoughts. 

"And this is Skye Brannon, Star Ninjetti, holder of the Star Crystal of Sionas." Billy announced pulling the white-haired artist forward from where he was lurking behind them.

There was a murmur from the group and then as Skye bowed he "heard" the mind voice of Delphine. _Greetings...then Alesto was correct!_

Greetings he responded automatically and then asked. _Who is Alesto?_

Delphine looked startled at the response _You are telepathic?_

He nodded slightly and gestured to the Star Crystal hanging around his neck, _With the crystal, Yes._

Billy and Trini watched the encounter, bemused but eventually understood that mindspeech was going on. Billy felt a little smug that finally they had managed to meet the Aquitians on their own level even with regard to their telepathic powers.

"You honour us Ninjetti" Talestra the new White Ranger said, "And if you would accompany us to the Power Island, our mentor Alesto wishes to speak with you."

Billy looked up with a gleam of enthusiasm in his blue eyes. "It is completed then? So quickly?"

"Yes." Aurico confirmed "Once our race was returned to normal after the Hydrocontaminator War, there was no lack of assistance in accomplishing its construction."

Trini had no idea what they were talking about but this was strangely like being on a planet populated by "Billy's", or at least Billy as he was when they were on the original Ranger team. No wonder he had liked this place despite the all encompassing water.

"Come Billy, " Cestria said, "Let us show you what your designs have become."

~*~

The Power Island of the Aquitian Rangers was significantly unlike the Power Chamber on Earth. For a start it was a huge dome like complex swarming with Aquitians and out in full sight of the city of Ce'Resma. There was no secrecy involved, no hiding or skulking about in corners, in fact it appeared like this incredible structure was the focal point of the city's attention. As they walked onwards, Billy seemed to know exactly where he was going and was excitedly talking with Cestria about changes that had taken place since his last visit. Trini began to feel superfluous--and not for the first time. A growing dissatisfaction had begun to encroach insidiously upon her since they had left Phaedos. Skye had said she was necessary but so far...well she'd done a fair amount of fighting, but that didn't really seem like anything important. Skye sensed for potential Ninjetti, Billy sorted things out and so far she felt like she had just been hanging around. TigerZord had been more useful than she had. Skye glanced across at her quizzically with a hint of pain reflected in his eyes and she tightened a grip on her emotions. To all outside appearances she was all graceful serenity and calm. Inside however, golden eyes glowed and a tiger tail twitched.

~*~

They were ushered into the Aquitian Power Island Centre where, gleaming in a transwarp bubble, was the shimmering form of the Aquitian Mentor, Alesto. The bubble floated apparently unsupported over an energy source and the Aquitian Elder appeared to be sitting in meditation in a canopy of rainbows.

"Welcome back William of Earth" the Old One's voice echoed around them. 

"Thankyou Alesto." Billy replied and bowed formally. 

"What is the nature of your mission to Aquitar?" the ancient Aquitian inquired gravely.

Billy looked solemn. "I would like to say it was purely for the pleasure of visiting old friends, but sadly this is not the case." Billy explained heavily.

"A while back I gained the Great Power of Phaedos and became a Blue Wolf Ninjetti spirit warrior. Trini is also a Ninjetti spirit warrior and Skye was named Star Ninjetti by Dulcea of Phaedos for his possession of the Star Crystal". 

Alesto's expression altered to one of deep concern as Billy continued formally. "We carry a message from the Ninjetti, from the ancient past; The Sun Goes Down; Beware the Darkness Visible.!"

The words, though so often repeated through their quest, never failed to stir a feeling of danger within them. Billy could tell from the Aquitian Mentors eyes that he had been aware of the warning before their visit, which was no great surprise. Personally, he suspected Zordon had known a lot more than he was letting on even before the ancient Ninjetti warning had swept through the galaxy. Alesto looked suddenly old and tired as if weighted down by a tremendous burden.

Alesto sighed. "Then it is confirmed. Aquitar will stand with the Peacemaker." He announced in ringing tones. "We welcome you to Aquitar."

Billy smiled. This had been possibly the easiest of their recruiting drives, in fact probably they needn't have come at all but there was one major thing they could do here and that was send messages home, and maybe see the others again even if it was only in a viewing globe. For that they would risk some of their precious and rapidly disappearing time.

"I would ask a favour of you Alesto" Billy asked eagerly. "May we use your planetary communications to send messages home to Earth?"

"Certainly. Though I warn you that interference is high owing to unusual solar activity." Said the mentor moving his hand in the delicate curl that indicated mild regret.

Billy felt a sting of disappointment. They had looked forward so much to talking to home. It had been many months since they had seen the others and there were times that despite the wonders and strange new places they had seen they had become unbearably homesick. They had prepared message capsules that would, if necessary send encrypted personal messages home, routed via the Power Chamber, direct to the various Rangers computers. Billy fiddled with the controls industriously but Alesto had not been understating the problem. The solar interference stopped a coherent signal from exiting the immediate environs of Aquitian space like a brick wall. Given enough time he might be able to punch a beam through, but time was something they didn't really have in abundance. In fact they were being rather self indulgent in landing on Aquitar at all considering that it was an assured ally. Time for Plan B. 

Trini's face dropped as she saw Billy slump in disappointment. She had been looking forward to speaking to all the others. All three of them pulled out a data disc and placed it on the communications console in silence.

"Please could you send the contents of these discs to Zordon and Earth as soon as the solar interference dies down?" Billy requested feeling oddly deflated.

"This will be done honoured Ninjetti." Talestra assured remaining very formal in his presence.

"I guess in the meantime we will make ourselves useful by restoring the Aquitian Ninjetti Zords to working order personally." Billy mused. "It will mean that your candidates can attend Phaedos all the more swiftly." He brightened a little at that optimistic thought.

Skye and Trini walked over to join him as did the curious Aquitians. Alesto scanned the earnest group already locked in discussion and sighed as his bubble shimmered around him. Time to change their lives in ways they may not even appreciate until it was too late.

"You may go now." he said suddenly cutting through the technical exchange, "but the Star Crystal Ninjetti must stay. I have things that may only be discussed with him." 

They all stopped, astonished. An Aquitian rarely interrupted, and an Elder never had to as all deferred to their wisdom and presence. Billy and Trini could tell the Alien Rangers were experiencing confusion at this uncharacteristic behaviour from their mentor.

Billy nodded but wondered at the strange request. "We shall attend to the Ninjetti Zords reactivation and seed the Aquitian space in the meantime with super-zebedees to continue the work that we may not be able to accomplish by the fall of night. At that time we must leave for we have many worlds to visit who are not so accommodating as Aquitar." He glanced across at the Star Ninjetti just to check that he hadnít been out of line before being ushered out of the Power Island Command Centre.

~*~

Skye shrugged and feeling a little uneasy, watched as the others departed the Power Island before turning to the alien Elder finding himself distracted and mesmerised by the shifting swirls of his rainbow bubble. Human stood before Elder Aquitian locked in an atmosphere of silence and tension. Finally the Aquitian Mentor broke the deadlock that gripped them both.

"Star Crystal Ninjetti" Alesto intoned formally, "Pay heed to my words for in their saying passes a great responsibility from my line, passed from teacher to pupil through the uncertainty of time."

The hairs on the back of Skye's neck began to prickle in warning and he felt suddenly apprehensive. He nodded to indicate his readiness to listen.

The Aquitian mentor appeared tense as he intoned, "Then listen to the Secret Words of the Quilash that were meant for the Bearer of the Star Crystal of Sionas alone--listen and pay heed to the shape of your purpose and destiny."

And with that he began a rolling fluid recitation of words that filled the Star Ninjetti with a growing horror as the darkness of the prophetic words spilled into the air tainting all hope, churning his emotions into whirlpool frenzy that swallowed his optimism whole and left him stunned in the shadow of this unwanted knowledge.

They had been busy, working closely with the Alien Rangers, and Trini found that she liked and respected the calm intellectual Aquitians. Even Cestria. And somehow that made it worse. If only she had been hateful in some way, any way, but no, she was demure, charming, witty and beautiful. Instead of being able to hate her she had to be gracious to her rival whilst always acutely aware of her proximity to Billy.

The main group of ancient Ninjetti Zords had been located, much to the natives amazement, relatively close to their current position on one of the island groups in the Nevarin Sea, but undetectable due to their stasis field unless you knew exactly the energy frequencies that they utilised. 

She could hear Billy cursing from within the Zord he was working on, which looked not unlike a Black Shark. The Aquitians had called it a Caracas and had been quite excited by it, but to her it looked like a Shark and "Jaws" it would remain. She turned suddenly realising Billy had called her name.

"Trini?" he called again. "Could you get me the sonic welder from WolfZord? It's in the grey toolbox--I'd get it but I'm kind of wedged in here..." He gestured at his predicament.

"Sure" she replied, trying to visualise what tool that was exactly. She jogged back to WolfZord eager not to leave Billy alone for too long. Aquitar was a lovely planet but quite frankly she would heave a sigh of relief when it was time to leave. She didn't know how much of this uncertainty she could take as it was almost making her feel physically sick with anticipating something that might happen. She pulled the toolbox out and stifled a sneeze--they hadn't had to use it...well since creating the Zebeedee's on Phaedos and it was a bit dusty. She poked around looking for the tool, and caught sight of a bit of paper crumpled at the bottom. Curious, she picked it up. Billy had used it to scribble diagrams on but it was a sealed envelope and under the scrawl she could see her name. How had it got here? She had a vague memory of Billy explaining something on Phaedos about the Zebeedees and then throwing it in the box as rubbish. Should she open it?

**__**

Curiosity killed the cat, her tigerspirit said abruptly. It appeared to be pacing in her mind obviously as agitated as she was.

__

Tell me you don't want to know! She challenged staring at the envelope as if she might somehow read the contents without having to take that decisive action and actually open the letter.

**__**

Well of course...it is my nature to be curious. It doesn't always mean it is a good thing. Some truths are as fire, as they illuminate they destroy and burn. the tigerspirit equivocated.

__

I have to know! * Trini said defiantly.

**__**

It is your choice, said the tigerspirit reluctantly. **_And you must live with whatever you find._**

Trini slowly opened the envelope and began to read Billyís unmistakable handwriting, her hands beginning to tremble.

__

Trini,  
By the time you read this, I will be gone. I'm leaving Earth for a while, quite a long while because I have to get something straight in my head. You deserve better than me and I need to resolve my feelings for someone I met on my last trip to Aquitar. If I don't find out for sure then I won't be able to live with myself and you should not have to live with the uncertainty of my unresolved feelings. It is best if you let me go, and I let you go. I don't want to hurt you, which is why I am doing this before we get so deep that it would tear us apart. Don't wait for me Trini, you deserve better that someone who doesn't know what they feel, and until I know for sure, I will never be able to say that I truly love you.  
Billy.

Silence reigned in WolfZord punctuated by a few ragged breaths.

Trini felt like she had taken a direct hit from a monster. She found herself literally gasping she was so unprepared for what she had just read. Obviously he meant to go into space without her; equally obviously he was expecting to sort a few things out. She fought to focus, but every time her mind spiralled back to those damning words that spun around and around,

"I will never be able to say I truly love you" she whispered aloud, but they didnít sound any better aloud than they did in her heart. The worst thing was that it was true. Billy had never said that to her, not aloud, not in the real world.

She tried breathing deeply asserting her training, forging an iron shell around her rampaging emotions.

**__**

Young cub... whispered her Tiger Spirit sounding hazy and distant.

**__**

Go away! Just go away! I don't want to speak to you! I don't want to know any more secrets! She cried out pushing her animal spirit away.

Those feelings of being useless crystallised with the knowledge that Billy had never intended that she come along in the first place! He had probably covered the fact he was disappointed when he saw her step out on Phaedos. How could she have been so blind? How was it she had not realised this before? No, no...it must have been a ploy or something.

She began to rationalise this new painful knowledge, swiftly wavering between confusion and denial but every time her thoughts drew one conclusion. There must have been something between Billy and Cestria for him to use her as an excuse. There must be!

Trini called on all her strength to put in place an impenetrable mask of civility before returning to the others, Sonic thingumy in hand and the letter tucked away burning her with it's heart destroying message. It took all her courage to go out there again amongst the Aquitians.

~*~

"Seriously though Delphine" she heard Billy ask "Would you want the Power again?" 

"Yes I would" Delphine admitted "The Rangers of Aquitar rarely give up the Power, yet it became necessary for Cestro and I to do so. Our Leaders were concerned that out commitment as life-mates would effect my impartiality as leader of the Power Rangers. To that end we resigned our positions. It was a...sensation." The former white ranger looked oddly tense.

Billy frowned. "So it is true what we learnt on Drakan? That it is only Earth that allows relationships within a team?"

The two Aquitian nodded. "Yes. We did not tell our mentor this fact about your Rangers for fear it might bring the attention of the Council of the Wise. I do not know if Zordon has told them of this behaviour."

Billy felt that they were omitting significant detail and evading his inquiries somewhat. Maybe if he could get to speak to Cestro on his own he might be able to pry some information from him. However in the meantime he didn't think he was being too premature in raising hopes. 

"Delphine, Cestro, there is a way for you to regain the Power if you become Ninjetti as there is no bar to the Power through relationships there. Seriously, we need as many as possible and I can think of no better candidates than you and Cestro!" He said in ringing tones of sincerity.

Hope filled the two Aquitiansí eyes. "This would indeed be of interest to us." 

"Good." Billy said smiling. He turned seeing Trini approach with the tool he had requested.

"Ah Trini, in the nick of time" He smiled at her thankfully and Trini smiled back but the light, warm mindtouch that usually went with it was absent and her dark eyes were like cold onyx. He was puzzled and looked at her quizzically but she had left the tool on the side and had turned to talk to Tideus.

Cestro looked at the read outs on the scanners they were using and called Billy over. "Billy, the White Ninjetti Zord appears to be in underwater Caverns within island's base. If you wish them to be repaired then we will have to go down there and fix them now."

Billy looked a little squeamish but nodded. "If we have to, we have to--it's not as deep as the tube ride to Talis."

Corcus laughed behind them "You are not still going on about that are you? You managed to hold your breath long enough didn't you?"

"Hmm barely. Some humans are trained to managed two minutes with ease, I was not." Billy grinned. "Last time you caught me out though Corcus." The Alien Ranger gave the Aquitian equivalent of a smile and nodded. 

"I think Cestro and I better take a look. Cestria, do you mind looking after Trini whilst we are gone?" Billy requested as he appeared unable to attract his team mates attention.

"Certainly Billy." Cestria replied looking up at him demurely.

"Great--well we won't be long. Couple of hours tops." Billy and Cestro hopped into one of the small bubble subs and sank gently beneath the waves.

Trini groaned. She had been listening, and now she was going to have to spend hours in the company of someone she would quite frankly like to imagine really horrible things about. Though the fact that she and her species were essentially telepathic would limit her in her daydreams.

~*~

Trini was in despair. Cestria was graceful, beautiful, exotic, lovely and downright miss perfect. She kept trying to see something wrong with her but so far she was struggling. Damn it even though she hated her, she found herself liking her.

"You have known William of Earth long?" Cestria asked suddenly as they watched the water where they had dived.

"A long time yes. We were part of the first team of Power Rangers on Earth" Trini said calmly.

"I envy you". Cestria said softly.

Trini glanced at her sharply and caught a gleam of emotion in the Aquitians eye. No! No! She did have feelings for him, it hadn't been just a one sided thing.

"He is a very special person." She said coolly trying to quash the jealousy threatening to spill out of her control.

"I know." Cestria said melodically. "He is the Peacemaker."

"What do you mean? Billy never really mentioned what he did whilst he was out here on Aquitar?" Trini asked curiously.

Cestria looked as shocked as an Aquitian could be. "You mean he is not praised for his deeds on your planet?"

"Cestria, on our planet no-one knows who the Power Rangers are let alone praises them.." She hesitated "Well maybe an occasional anonymous festival. No-one even knows he came here except the Rangers."

"That is like him, to be so modest in the face of great achievement." Cestria nodded her face aglow at this new discovery. She gracefully indicated the Ocean before them. "Before he came here, you would have had to have stood here with a mask to protect you from pollution and toxins. Our entire world was constantly bombarded by filth from the Hydro-contaminators. Only one area, the Eternal Falls remained uncontaminated. Our entire planets was relying on that one source of "structured water"."

"Structured water?" Trini asked intrigued despite herself.

"It is what keeps the body healthy. Unstructured water is cause by contaminants and high pressures. You have it on earth as well, unstructured water is always present in unhealthy cells, and the Aquitian species biochemistry is dependant upon high levels of structured waters otherwise our vital organs begin to fail in rapid succession." Cestria explained knowledgeably and Trini groaned inwardly. Smart too!

"Billy managed to discover that the Eternal Falls produces a super-ionized structured water in small quantities which converted the polluted water back to the natural structured state. He devised, along with the other rangers, a method of amplifying that natural process and producing vast amounts of this catalytic water that cleansed our Oceans. With the population back to full health it was not long before we could force a treaty with the Hydrocontaminators, and again his wisdom showed..."

"What in front of all those people...." Trini muttered to herself. "Do go on!" she finished sweetly.

"He completed a treaty that gave them a moon that had very little sea life but plenty of water, and we would not attack them or vice versa. The Treaty has held, and as William pointed out, if they pollute themselves to extinction, then Aquitar can cleanse the planet and reclaim it, but otherwise they might actually learn to deal with it sensibly." The Aquitian woman looked practically brimful of emotion.

Trini would have been impressed by this glowing endorsement if she hadn't been obsessed with Cestria's reaction to Billy. The ëlittle mermaidí was practically drooling over him for crying out loud.

"You like Billy don't you?" She asked finally broaching the dreaded subject. 

Cestria smiled and her face practically glowed. "Yes. I enjoyed working with him when he was here. I... believe in him I could find someone I could really relate to."

She looked curiously over at Trini who appeared to be miles away with her thoughts. "Trini, What is... sushi?"

"Nothing...nothing" Trini said hurriedly locking all those thoughts deep within herself. "Just an Earth delicacy, I must be getting hungry. I hope they are not going to be that much longer."

~*~

Billy fought the echo of his phobia as the tiny bubblesub sank beneath the crystal clear waves and began a long descent to the Ocean floor below. There had been a time when he would have been paralysed by fear by such an undertaking, but that had been a strange bonus of losing the Powers. He wouldn't have cared if something happened to him. In fact he wouldn't have been able to stay on Aquitar if it hadn't been for that reason, it was if he could tolerate anything because the worst had already happened to him. It was a side effect he could have lived without, and even now he felt the pangs of uneasiness.

"What's that?" He queried pointing to a large scar in the seabed to the left of them, trying to distract himself from the water around them.

Cestro flickered one of his rare smiles "Do you not remember Billy?"

The Wolf Ninjetti shook his head puzzled. The former Blue Alien Ranger made a handsign that Billy had always loosely translated to himself as "you'd forget your head if it weren't screwed on!"

"That was where the Gold Ranger crashed into the sea's of Aquitar." Cestro reminded him.

"We are that close?" Billy questioned in amazement. Now he looked at it a little more closely the area appeared familiar, though the abundant sea life had wasted little time in colonising the stripped area. 

"To think we were that close to the Ninjetti Zords at that time, that close to a Power all that time!" Billy said with a trace of bitterness seeping through. Those were painful memories for him, even now he had the Power returned to him.

Cestro looked across at him seriously for a moment. "I have no idea how you managed to stay sane when you could not accept the Gold Powers, after being in Powerloss all that time" He looked down ashamed. "When I think of what I did after giving up the Blue Powers..."

Billy saw that haunted look on the Aquitian alien features that he had once bourne and realised that this was what they had been NOT saying. 

His heart went out to him. "What did you do Cestro?" he asked quietly.

The former Blue Alien Ranger sighed and looked away. "Delphine and myself lost emotional control totally--we tried to wrest back our powers in a fit of insanity and had to be sequestered for a period of time until our mental equilibrium had been restored." 

The former Aquitian Ranger looked deeply ashamed. Emotional outbursts were taboo in their society, so a public display of deranged behaviour would have been terrible for them both. Billy winced, even his ordinary behaviour had been regarded as uncouth and hyper emotional--he dreaded to think what they would have made of some of the other Rangers if they had come to live in their society as he had. 

"Not being able to take the Gold Powers nearly destroyed me." Billy said into the silence by way of reassurance. There were very few he could have told that and known they would have understood. "It took a while for the strain to break me down but it did in the end. But I got through it, it does get better!"

"You don't know what it was like!" Cestro retorted angrily. He turned away.

Strangely, Billy was oddly flattered; an Aquitian only ever relaxed enough to show overt emotions with the closest of friends or life mates. Still, he could not let such an accusation pass.

Billy looked at him piercingly. "Think who you are talking to here, how many powers have been ripped away from me and you say I DON'T KNOW? Do you really want to know what not be able to accept the Gold Powers did to me? Do you want me to show you?" He used the spirit crystal to brush the Aquitians mind with a willingness to share memories, a rare and unusual thing and something he had been unable to do before becoming Ninjetti.

Cestro hesitated. And then focused upon the Ninjetti, his forehead pulsing coloured light as he activated his telepathic sense fully and Billy gave him the entire time from that crushing moment when the Gold Powers burst out of him, rejecting his incompatible body to the moment when he assumed the Great Power once again.

Billy ended up steering the bubblesub as Cestro appeared in shock. There was a long period of silence as the Aquitian absorbed what he had been shown.

"I had no idea..no idea it was like that for you." Cestro said finally. "You are so young, as a race, as an individual...we thought.."

"That it was over reaction, a primitive response from a primitive people and only to be expected from people at our stage of development" Billy finished. Oh he had known about that opinion. He had learned enough native Aquitian to hear it muttered in the cities on those days when try as he might his reaction to Powerloss came hacking through like a blunt knife polluting the telepathic environment. They thought he hadn't understood, but he had and he was embarrassed for the Alien Rangers sake for having to put up with him. 

Cestro was open mouthed in amazement "Where did you hear that?" he asked. 

"Everytime I stepped foot in the public places in the cities--until was announced Peacemaker." Billy said with a touch of bitterness.

"It was a judgement based on ignorance and assumption" Cestro admitted.

"And partly true." Billy said "We are a young race, we are emotional, but we have crammed our history full of experience. We do not always have your control but we have become flexible and adaptive. It is part of us. You have problems staying on Earth, the Triforians cannot stay here and there are many places where various races cannot go, but very few where humans, for all their frailty cannot find a way to exist." He was aware of the irony of him extolling the virtues of emotions, when he had spent most of his life trying to hide from his own. But then he had always been aware of another fundamental irony. On Earth, Water was the element of emotions, and yet on this world of water, emotions were strictly controlled and regulated by such conventions as the infinite variations of hand movements that they used to convey subtleties of emotion.

Cestro bowed his head in response. It was a statement that could not be argued with.

Billy heaved a sigh "Looks like we are nearly there." He said as he peered out into the dark waters at the Island stone roots. 

"The scans show many cave like structures in the cliff. There are numerous in quantity and diverse in proportion" Cestro pointed out "It is my estimate that at one point they were above water"

__

Which would make sense, Billy thought and then asked, "Can we navigate the bubblesub inside?" 

"I believe so, yes." Cestro replied and deftly took the controls, spinning the tiny craft up through dark mysterious chasms in the sea cliffs to the target area. They twisted and turned through the labyrinthine waterways towards the dark heart of the island massif.

As they wended their way, a phrase crept forward into Billy's consciousness, "Through Caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea" he murmured aloud feeling an eiree resemblance in their current journey to that described in the poem. 

Cestro tilted his head in confused interest. "The sun would not penetrate to this depth anyway, and if you are interested I could measure the quantity of the caverns?"

Billy smiled "It's not important Cestro, it just reminded me of something I once read on Earth. Carry on." He chuckled inwardly. Aquitian poetry tended to be bound by incredibly formalised conventions that were designed to provoke thought, rather than imagery and emotion.

"Hmmm it appears there are air pockets still in the caves in this area" Cestro said with a degree of surprise. "I would suggest wearing the rebreather though--the air is likely to be stale." 

Billy nodded and slipped on the gear. He was pleased though that he didn't have to work underwater, he'd done enough of that in the past and on a couple of occasions had nearly had problems. The water dependant aliens had not been able to comprehend the danger that water posed to him and initially had thought he was over reacting.

The bubblesub finally emerged up into the Zord storage cave and flooded it with light for the first time in who knew how long. It was a stunningly beautiful Cavern, it's walls threaded through with ropes of a shimmering gold mineral that sparkled starlike in the brilliant light glow they had introduced from the bubblesub. Cestro popped the seal and helped Billy to the dry part of the cave and they both stood for a moment in utter wonder as their wandering light picked out the smooth fine lines that delineated object of their quest. The White Ninjetti Aquitian Zord was obviously of avian design, but whereas Tommy's FalconZord was built for power, this Zord had a delicate shape. Billy was reminded of a fairy tern, or a gull. 

Cestro stood drinking in it's grace and pure lines. "This must be Delphine's, a Vasherel Zord, a flying creature renowned in our world for it's grace and determination and in legend it is a symbol of the wisdom and leadership that is gain through the seeking spirit."

Billy nodded "She will still have to quest for the Great Power, as will you all but I agree, it feels like it should be hers." He shook his head slightly as his wolf spirit gave him a mental impression of a bored yawn as a subtle hint to get on with the work.

"Anyway, either way she won't be impressed if her new Zord doesn't turn up when she calls so we best get to work!" 

Cestro agreed and within moments they were deep into technical repairs and discussions.

~*~

Billy was just finishing up behind the Vasherel Zord when something caught his eye. It appeared to be a slim crack into a cavern behind the one they were in. It was strangely compelling, emanating a sense of mystery that after the time he had spent fixing the Zord was almost irresistible.

**__**

Let's look said his wolfspirit curiously. There was an impression of it peering into the darkness.

__

It's time we went back Billy muttered back picking up his tools, taking a sneak look at the crack entrance.

**__**

I think we should look, the wolfspirit said in a firm tone. Billy groaned. His was the choice but when that tone was used if he didn't do what was suggested then he would hear about it for days. 

"Okay fine..." Billy tried to squeeze through but the bulkiness of the rebreather prevented his passage through the slim entrance. Impatiently, he slipped it off and slid through the tight rock face. The air was stale but he wasn't going to be here long, he was just here to satisfy that 'oh so human' trait of reckless curiosity.

He turned on the light and froze in awe. The entire domelike cave was painted or etched with thousands of gylph images, strange animals, creatures, figures, and strange designs incorporating the glittering gold veins of metal. In the centre was a shimmering silvered globe and as Billy shone the beam of his light on it seems to intensify and bounce around the Cavern of images until it illuminated the one blank area on the wall. There, deeply etched and beginning to throb with an actinic brightness, the stylised shape of a bird and a star burned, as a sinuous serpentlike shape appeared to coil outwards around the curves of the cave, in some strange way formed from the gaps behind the pictures but seeming more real than the drawings themselves. Billy became dizzy, the colours seem to shift and glow with a rainbow aurora and he coughed, the sound echoing like a heartbeat and he felt he could hear words muttering in the echoes.

__

Rememberememberemember.... it throbbed and echoed in his pounding head. 

He stumbled back to the crack, knowing he had spent too long without oxygen and that he should have told Cestro where he was going. He gulped instinctively for air, his vision starting to dim as he pushed his way through, fumbling around for the rebreather he had left of the other side. He was through but he still couldn't see. The world was there, just receding from him rapidly.

"Cestro...." He croaked out hoarsely between hyperventilating gasps and felt the world slip away as he passed out abruptly.

~*~

He woke with a start. He was in the Bubblesub and they were exiting the underwater cavern system.

"Cestro...what are we doing ?" he asked slightly disorientated. A moment ago it seemed that he had been in the cave filled with strange glyph and then--oh he must have passed out.

The former blue alien ranger seemed to relax a little as he heard his voice "I was about to convey you with all haste to a medical facility. I was concerned that you would not awaken." 

"Oh...oh no need." Billy protested. He just had a splitting headache "I just took off my rebreather and got a little oxygen starved before I knew what was going on."

"Why?" asked Cestro tilting his head in query.

Billy was about to tell him about the cave of glyphs and images when his wolf spirit stepped in.

**__**

This is not for them to know, not for any others, it said fiercely, **_that was for you, for us. We have seen, we know, its purpose is fulfilled._**

Billy didn't have a clue what his spirit animal was talking about but found himself saying, "Well I took my rebreather off to take a look at something that I couldn't reach with it on and the next thing I knew I was dizzy and couldn't see it again, and then I passed out."

Not a word of a lie, but Cestro naturally assumed he was talking about working on the Ninjetti Zord.

"Well it is good that you have recovered with no damage. I would be very unpopular with many people if I let you come to harm." The Aquitian answered, and Billy realised with a jolt that actually he was being completely serious. Just how seriously did they take this Peacemaker title anyway?

"I thank you for your concern," he said sincerely "But please don't tell anyone--I would never live it down if the others started to think I got so involved with my work that I even forget to breath properly!"

Cestro grinned and gave the handsign for humorous assent, which made Billy laugh again as it was thumb and forefinger pressed together in a circle with the fingers curved in a fan above it.

"A-OK to you too!" he laughed as they rose up towards the glittering surface and the others once more.

~*~

They returned to the Power Island Centre, having seeded the known space with self replicating Zeebeedees that would seek out and repair any additional Zords in the vicinity as well as fixing directly what Ninjetti Zords they could. Billy guessed Trini was tired after the day's work as she was particularly quiet; he knew he was and his head still ached from that little mishap. They made their way back to see Alesto to report before they had to leave to continue their quest.

As soon as they entered the Power Chamber they knew something was wrong. Skye was sitting silent and pale staring into space and didn't acknowledge their presence. Billy was not even sure if his friend was aware that they had returned. Alesto appeared not much better, trapped though he was in the transwarp bubble. 

"Skye?" Trini called out concerned. No response. 

Billy touched his spirit crystal, _Skye?_ he pushed forward with his mind and then recoiled. For the first time, his friends' mind was barriered tight against him. He felt like he'd run into a wall. 

"What's wrong with him?" Trini asked in growing alarm whilst Billy clutched his once again aching head. She approached the white-haired artist and put her hand on his shoulder in a mute question.

Alesto spoke in a strained voice. "He has had some distressing news--It will require him a little time to adjust."

Skye abruptly looked up and met her gaze with such despair darkening his eyes that they looked like those of a stranger's. He got up and without saying a word half ran from the room as if he couldn't bear to be near them. Billy turned to follow him but was stopped by the Elders words,

"Let him, go--he needs to be alone at this time" 

"But..." Billy protested, looking after the way his friend had run. 

"He requested this" Alesto said "Some time alone to think."

"Can you tell us what this is about?" Trini asked troubled by this turn of events. If she had had some distressing revelations then it appeared that Skye had had worse. If only she had been with him, instead of out there being nice to the _little mermaid_; he had needed them and neither of them had been there to help him!

Alesto shook his head "Not specifically though it concerns your Quest." 

"In what way?" Trini pushed feeling his reluctance.

"On most planets there are Prophecies of the return of the Evil of the Darkness Visible. You have such Prophecies on your world, and Aquitar is no exception. Certain sections are common knowledge, others are known only to certain members of the Wise." Alesto explained in deliberate generalities "One of these passages entrusted to my line hold specific reference to the identity and role of the bearer of the Star Crystal of Sionas. I have revealed this to him, which I was forbidden to reveal to any other save the holder of the crystal. It was difficult for him to absorb. Also his answers have confirmed to me the truth of the Prophecy and that the time draw near."

Billy drew himself up. "Then Alesto I request of behalf of Dulcea of Phaedos that you gather as many candidates to quest for the Great Power and send them as soon as possible." 

"It will be done Wolf Ninjetti--there are many here who have trained to be Power Rangers who would be worthy." Alesto reported. Any other time this would have been an occasion for great rejoicing amongst the team but not this time. They appeared to be deflated and the taste of victory was tainted in their mouths.

"Believe me, we need as many as possible and we have very little time, Trini said. 

"And also we need Skye back." Billy said pointedly. Damn, this was not what they needed, things falling apart everywhere. "Will he be okay?" 

Alesto hesitated. "It will take him time to adjust but I believe he will be fine."

And with that they had to be content.

~*~

It was a strangely subdued parting. What should have been one of the high points of their mission, familiar territory, an easy recruitment drive and a chance to speak to home had turned out to leave a bitter aftertaste. The high that they had experienced after Drakan evaporated, and this water planet had left them confused, unsettled and drawing apart from each other.

Billy had rarely seen Skye depressed. After Kim's fall over the cliff yes, he had been in shock for that brief time. Otherwise he had taken on alien planets, near death experiences, battling evil with equanimity. But whatever Alesto has said had made the white-haired artist close himself off almost completely. He spoke only when spoken to, was civil enough but he did not mind-touch, he did not project. Not at all. In fact in a strange way he reminded Billy of himself a while ago, before Phaedos. As they made their last farewells and entered WolfZord to leave, the sun disappeared beneath the ocean horizon, leaving Aquitar's usually brilliant oceans black and implacable.

"Farewell to the Sunless sea" Billy muttered and knew that somehow and at some point in some subtle way, the waters of Aquitar had taken something from them all in repayment for its commitment to their cause.

~*~

"It is my thought Alesto" Talestra, the Aquitian White Ranger said as they watched the Ninjetti depart once more into the realms of space, "That the Star Crystal of Sionas would have been better utilised for the Powers of Good by a naturally telepathic keeper. For the sake of the safety of Aquitar, I envy the possession of the crystal in their hands." 

It was a thought that must have occurred to them all. Humans were not a telepathically orientated race, and the evidence showed that they did not appear to have the mental discipline to make the most of their abilities. Talestra had not served with the Earth Rangers or with the one called William Cranston and still held a firm belief that the Aquitian Rangers were a stronger, more balanced team than anything produced by such an immature race, whatever Delphine and the others assessments were of their capabilities. Just look at the Star Ninjetti's reaction to Alesto's briefing as a point in favour of her argument.

In a voice as close to anger as they had ever heard him, Alesto responded, "Never envy Skye of Earth for possessing the crystal or assume his ability less because he is human. He deserves respect and pity rather than envy for his role in forthcoming events!" With that their mentors rainbow warp bubble became occluded and opaque to their sight as he withdrew from abruptly from their presence.

The Aquitian Rangers were stung by the unprecedented rebuke, and finally their analytical brains deduced a reason for his behaviour. The Aquitians realised that their mentors' harsh words stemmed from one simple fact.

__

He was afraid.

That was cause for great alarm in itself. This was more serious than they had thought possible. If their revered mentor had been provoked to an emotional response over a situation, it would be because it held a great deal of potential for disaster. Logic dictated that as he had not reacted in such a manner regarding the Hydrocontaminators then it was a threat that held the potential for more than just the destruction of Aquitar. The Aquitian Rangers looked at each other in the darkness suddenly chilled to the core by an uncharacteristic but entirely accurate premonition of the approaching future.

~*~

Billy was reading alone in the cockpit of WolfZord. Trini was avoiding him for some reason; Skye appeared to be avoiding the entire universe at the moment, he was hiding out in the back cabin sketching and barely speaking more than a couple of words--and those were usually "Go away!". 

Obviously in Trini's case he had done something wrong. He just wished he knew what it was, but as she wouldn't talk to him and without the link through Skye he couldn't tell what was on her mind. What had happened in that time whilst he was beneath the waters? Had someone said something to her, though for the life of him he could not think what it might be. His wolfspirit seemed as bemused as he was so that was no help. How could he put it right when he did not know what was wrong!? 

Same with Skye; he felt like he should do something to help him but he couldn't because neither of them would tell him what the problem was. So instead he was studying the Quilash--the Aquitian equivalent of the Prophecies of Nostradamus or Revelations. After the incredibly vague description from Alesto of what he had said to Skye, and his own experiences in the sunless, but illuminating, Cave of Glyphs he had decided to start studying whatever prophecies he could find. 

What he had read so far filled him with a sense of pervading unease and despair.

"Just once I'd like to see a Prophecy that is not all doom and gloom." He muttered turning the page. "How about...in the year nineteen ninety nine everything will turn out fine"?". 

His wolf spirit chuckled at him **_That is not the nature of Prophecy, it is a dangerous thing, double edged as it gives, it takes away._**

"I take it you don't like Prophecy?" Billy queried amused. 

The wolfspirit gave the impression of a growl and snarl flickering around it's muzzle. **_Prophecy is a man-thing, to try and control the future. You never seem to understand, when you control you impose limitation on your options in countering the prophecy whereas where it does not exist then there is no boundary on what you can do to change events._**

Billy frowned. He thought he understood what his wolfspirit was getting at, but he didn't quite understand why it was such a problem. Surely a Prophecy limited what could be done to you, as well as what you could do, provided you with a framework to counter attack. 

The wolfspirit looked sorrowful, **_One day you will understand it said. You do not always have conscious awareness of where you are steered. Look to the examples before you and think upon them._**

Billy looked again at the Quilash scanning some of the text. In hindsight some passage were obviously referring to him, the Ninjetti and the events of the preceding years.

"And the waters will become shadow darkened by poisoned conflict, yet the protectors leave the home-sea's for other skies."

Hmmm like their own, obvious when there was a context, but otherwise so general as to be nigh on impossible to interpret. That was obviously referring to the Alien Rangers protection of Earth. But it shook him to read of himself, described with precision from the vantage point of the ancient past.

"And one shall come to repay a debt and though young in years, is old in experience; He is Warrior, Teacher, Reconciler and Peacemaker though he stands powerless in the face of the enemy,"

At least it explained why they called him Peacemaker, though it made him shudder now he understood the source material. Some were downright ambiguous. "Darkness rises, deception its heart, its being shaped from the darkest fears of the living"

Or

"There is one, a Life bought by Purpose, gifted a sea-path of storms and darkness."

What exactly they meant he could not say but he sensed a profound premonitionary disturbance in his spirit. That a confrontation with the Darkness Visible was going to happen at some point appeared obvious. And there was this peculiar phrase "Shahin tara zed" that kept cropping up over and over, but there was no translation although the context implied it was a fundamental part of the final confrontation. The strange thing was that it sounded strangely familiar, and it didn't sound like an Aquitian word. All that aside he couldn't shake the feeling that the Prophecy was pointing to something bad for them in particular. His gaze drifted to Skye's cabin almost unconsciously. Well, he would do his best to defy these Prophecies and their grim forbodings. There would be other worlds and other Prophecies and somewhere in them would be the answers he sought. He hoped.

~*~

"You did what?" Zordon exclaimed as Alesto contacted him.

"I told the Star Ninjetti of the Prophecy that involved him." The Aquitian Mentor supplied. 

"I thought the Council of the Wise decided not to reveal any of the Prophecy fragments until nearer the time." Zordon stated. "You may have seriously damaged his emotional equilibrium."

The Aquitian bowed his head, still resolute. "It is part of the knowledge, that the Prophecy will be told when the custodian of this knowledge first meets the Bearer of the Star Crystal. Those were my instructions... which date back to before the Council of the Wise even existed."

Zordon sighed. "This is true. Forgive my anxiety. There is so much at stake and, he is very young. How did he take the news?"

"Not well. I forget how emotional humans can be." There was a mildly disapproving tone in his voice.

"It is a strength as well as a weakness." Zordon defended. "And he is strong. He will learn to deal with it." 

The ancient Aquitian Elder did not look convinced and Zordon was concerned as to how exactly the Star Crystal Ninjetti had reacted. Humans needed a delicate touch and a great deal of understanding; if the Council of the Wise knew of half the things that had occurred in the latest tenure of holders of the Power on Earth they would be astonished and probably horrified. Knowing the controlled Aquitian way and analytical approach to emotion he doubted that Alesto had been subtle in breaking whatever news it was he had held secret all this time.

"One other thing. There is increased activity by the Alliance of Evil. They are beginning to strike and seize not just the unallied worlds but are making forays into the area's of space protected by our Alliance." Alesto warned.

"So soon?" Zordon questioned more than a little alarmed. Things were moving faster than anticipated. 

"There have been reports of skirmishes from the Ronani indicating that Chi'iten space is under attack. That sector appears to be the Ninjetti's next target area. And of course I have the Ninjetti's report about the Drakan system. That is not distant from your home planet Zordon." Alesto pointed out.

"That I know of from C'haal himself." Zordon agreed evading the issue about his home world. "Has anyone heard a report from the Phantom Ranger recently?"

"The last one to speak with him was Rhahamadra. What do you intend Zordon?" Alesto asked curious. 

The Eltarian Mage looked up "Just thoughts echoing in my transdimensional warp old friend". He said softly.

__

I intend to leave a false trail away from Earth big enough that even the combined brainpower of the Alliance of Evil could not miss it. I intend to be bait for them so they don't think to question why I was here. He thought to himself. And that would mean walking away from the world he had guarded and cherished for thousands of years. Giving up his adopted sons and daughters to the care of another.

"What is Dimitria of Inquiros doing at the moment?" He asked suddenly.

Alesto sounded surprised "Questioning the meaning of life as usual." His response was met by silence. "Well I despatch the messages that your pupils left with me and I will beginning the selection procedure."

Zordon seemed to break from his deep thought. "My thanks, and send everyone you have, the need is great."

"But if you fail the test of the Great Power you die!" Alesto protested, unwilling to send his chosen needlessly to their deaths if they did not stand a chance.

"Dulcea has waived the death requirement, if they die in the quest she will return them with no knowledge of their participating." Zordon explained patiently. " She is using her ability to manipulate time and said that she can loop them back to before they entered the test and turn them away before they realise that they failed. She does not want to waste any potential warriors who could fight alongside the Ninjetti, just because they are not suitable to accept the Great Power." 

Alesto nodded gravely. "She is indeed wise. I will attend to it at once".

His image disappeared.

Zordon sighed and the stream of information from Billy, Trini and Skye flooded into his awareness and the rest of it out into the world. Their reports from a multitude of planets they had visited indicated some frightening trends, and he could waste no more time. This was happening now.

"Alpha." 

"Yes Zordon?" replied the automaton.

"We are leaving for Eltare. Contact Dimitria of Inquiros to take my place whilst I am gone."

Alpha, imbued with feeling or not appeared shocked. "Ayiyie! Zordon, with Divatox here surely it is not a sensible idea to abandon the Rangers so soon after they assumed a new Power!" 

"The Turbo powers were designed to be stable--Divatox does not deal in magic as Rita and Zedd did, therefore Dimitria will be capable of dealing with the Space pirates ploys." Zordon explained and then added, "Eltare is under attack and I must return."

Alpha seemed to understand. It was a genuine explanation up to a point but left out significant points.

"When shall we leave Zordon?" Alpha asked almost plaintively.

"Tonight, there is no time to lose."

~*~

Rocky sat alone in his room staring at the glowing computer screen in the darkness. He'd snapped at Kat again, he just couldn't seem to help himself. He was moody and irritable and he couldn't understand why on earth Kat might even want to waste her time with him. He thought, he thought he'd seen her eyes glisten with tears as he brushed her off. She didn't deserve it, she was the kindest, most wonderful girl he had ever met and he was treating her like this! What was he thinking?! There was a time that if he had ever thought Tommy had been treating her like this then he would have done his best to teach him a lesson. He wouldn't have got too far, especially as he was now, but he would have tried!

His back spasmed painfully, agonisingly and he got up to walk around. He couldn't move like he used to, he couldn't just react to things in the same way; he would never have been able to reaccept the Powers, though secretly he wished they'd pushed a little harder to make him accept. That made it harder, Kat having the Powers and him being a half cripple, while she was out saving the world everyday he could barely turn up and teach his dojo classes without it taking his whole strength. When had he last seen Adam? Tommy? Any of the others?.

He noticed briefly his computer was downloading mail and had been for the past few minutes--a big message then. Eventually, sometime later, as he was wishing desperately for a faster connection it arrived and he looked in shock at the title "Greetings from Space!". It was a huge encrypted document from their three friends sent to all of the Rangers. 

"But of course, they wouldn't know that I am no longer part of the team" muttered Rocky, a glimmer of his usually happy demeanour re-emerging. At least in their eyes he still was. He read through their adventures at top speed, greedily soaking up the contact and felt oddly satisfied at the end of it. He was about to go through it again when he saw a small flashing link at the bottom of the document; a tiny crystal star icon, and a place to enter a password. Rocky considered a moment and after trying "Star Ninjetti" and "Skye Brannon" suddenly grinned and typed in "snowball" his joking nickname for the artist. The computer whirred noisily and gave up it's message.

__

Rocky,  
You have read the report about Drakan and what happened. I'm telling you this alone because I don't trust myself enough to be sure of what I saw, though it was more detailed than I would care to describe. I didn't say to the others but I didn't see you there, when I was linked with Kim. I saw an unfamiliar Blue Ranger, but it wasn't my friend Rocky. I'm so sorry, more than I can say. Billy would know what it is like--think back to that talk along time back and the ones we had afterwards. You are getting a taste of the Blue testing I guess. I wish...I wish I had warned you more about it. There were things I dreamt that I hoped were nightmares and now I have seen too many of them come true to ignore the possibility. I wish I was there to help you but it isn't forever Rocky. I don't know how or why, but if you get through this then you get it all back and more, like Billy did, and don't ask me how I know that either because I don't really know myself. I do know that you are hurting and you feel alone, I also know that you will never admit it to the others. Try not to let it drive a gap between you all, I know it is hard, but hold on. All things pass in time; learning the hard way is sometimes really hard, but not as hard as the easy way.  
Don't isolate yourself my friend, and don't let them isolate themselves from each other. You were always the one who could bring them together in laughter."

Rocky felt his eyes burn with tears. "Too late, Skye, the gap is already there, too late!" 

He paused and then said aloud "Why? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why didn't you stop me if you saw it? Why?! _WHY?!"_

He stared at the screen until his vision blurred with burning, unshed tears and finally said,

"And I have no laughter left... even for my friends."

### End

**__**

Authors Note: Things that may be of vague interest to someone. The phrase "Through Caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea" comes from the poem Kubla Khan by S.T Coleridge. And the whole business about structured water and super-ionized water is apparently true--I give credit for that to one of those marvellous emails that found it's way to me telling me how it existed and is going to change the world. If you want to read it then I'll gladly forward it, but lets just say it was a very useful plot device and as it doesn't belong to me then anyone else can also use it. And if anyone is sitting there thinking--hey where did that letter come from?, you can find it in Twilight: Lengthening Shadows.


	9. Lessons in Harmony

**__**

Disclaimer: Oh how rich I would be if I owned the Power Rangers! But I do not, Saban does. This is the ninth fic in the Sun goes Down series and you will be relatively lost unless you have read at least some of the others. Otherwise, enjoy!

### Lessons in Harmony  
by Peregrine
    
    Kimberley Hart sighed. She stood alone in the gym, seeking an inspiration of sorts. Her attempt previously to come up with something special to present at the Panglobals for the Freestyle floor routine had resulted in that fateful scuba diving trip and the ordeal at Muranthanis. Needless to say, that hadn't provided her with any answers. And now, barely a week away from the competition she had nothing to enter with, well nothing worth showing the judges. She took a deep breath and did a few perfectly executed tumbles across the mat and finished up even more depressed. Her technique was the best it had ever been. Coach Schmidt had been correct, she would not be penalised on technique. But her routine lacked that special something, that glamour that would set her apart from the others.

"That comes from within" Coach Schmidt was fond of saying and usually thumped his chest for emphasis. "If you do not feel it here, you maybe as perfect as I am, but it will mean nothing." He usually finished with a glower at their giggling response to his mock profundity.

Though when it came down to it, he was correct. She knew she had lost that inner motivation, haunted as she was by the events of the past. Since Muranthanis she had found it difficult to move with light and grace, having been touched so deeply by overpowering evil.

She walked to the bench and listlessly picked up her drink. She felt so alone. All of them appeared to be alone at the moment. She hadn't actually physically seen Tommy for ages, nearly since the whole Turbo incident. They spoke on the phone frequently and she could tell he was hurt and confused by the way she refused to come back and see him. It wasn't to do with him, or the relationship, but she doubted he believed that. If there was one thing she wanted was to be with him, to have back that feeling of togetherness, but if she wanted to fulfil her life-long dream she had to work at it - and a few days from now all those dreams would be shattered in useless pieces on the competition floor. She sighed.

She missed being able to talk to the other girls too, even Kat. She felt guilty about that and she hadn't even been to see Rocky since his accident, which was terrible really when she thought about it. Why did everything seem so hopeless to her?

She put her head in her hands as the feeling of repressed tears began to rise in her from out of nowhere. He eyes burned and her throat ached with the strain, but her eyes remained dry and her features resolute. In a sudden move she threw down the drink bottle and headed back out onto the mats. Resolute and defiant she began her exercises again as she thought to herself that if she did not find anything within, it would not be because she had not looked hard enough.

~*~

Another argument flared in WolfZord as the Ninjetti continued their quest through space for Allies, Ninjetti and Zords for the eventual conflict with the Zha'Kha-ree'aa, the Darkness Visible. Arguing had come to be a regular occurrence since Aquitar, almost a habit, that substituted conflict for the more subtle connections that had existed between the three Ninjetti. It was astonishing how easily they had slipped into this pattern of constant bickering, but on this particular occasion Trini believed that she might actually have a point rather than just playing devils advocate.

"The Ronani were hardly the most reliable race!" Trini argued vociferously. "Their concept of 'relative truth' nearly got us all killed once already. Following their information could be highly hazardous and waste valuable time. I think we should forget about the Chi'iten Empire and concentrate on something worthwhile!"

__

Why couldn't he see that? They had no time to waste on fools' errands!

Billy eyes were ice-blue and uncompromising. "Nevertheless, the Chi'iten Empire is massive, that much is obvious. They are an ancient race, who--"

"Who have never been Ninjetti." Trini interrupted pointedly. She had her hands on her hips challenging him to defy that logic.

Billy paused. It was a good argument, but she was missing the point. "Fine, true, but who were reputed to have been Allied with the Ninjetti in the last conflict with the Darkness Visible. Skye looked into the Ma'rai Sphere, probing the histories of the Ninjetti and found mention of them lending critical support."

"Oh, you got him to talk?" Trini said in a slightly softer tone.

Billy shrugged wearily "In words of one syllable. I wish he'd tell me what was wrong." As he said that he met Trini's dark gaze directing the question implicitly at her also. She turned away and busied herself at the controls and the moment died in the air between them.

The trio of questing Ninjetti were not doing so well. Since Aquitar it seemed like dissension had spread between them, irritating, straining, pulling at them and growing progressively worse with each mission. The fact that all three of them, in order to avoid the issues between them had thrown themselves into their work and purpose with growing intensity, meant the quest in itself was going very well; however, the actual questors were not doing so well at all. Billy and Trini ignored each other in a frosty demanding silence or quarrelled privately in a fashion that would have shocked their friends and family. It still amazed Billy that Trini could provoke him quite the way that she did because he would start out with the best intentions of remaining calm and she would pick at him and pick, and pick until he totally lost control. Skye had wrapped a wall of isolation around himself and was morose and withdrawn remaining secluded in his cabin for long intervals only coming out for missions. He would do his scanning and sensing in the briefest possible time as if afraid of touching their minds like he used to with comfortable familiarity.

Billy sighed. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, and the more confused he became the less he wanted to deal with it. Still, they could not let the mission suffer because of their personal problems. That was possibly the ONLY thing they agreed on at the moment.

He brushed back his blonde hair thoughtfully. They had only the sketchiest information about the Chi'iten, and they had been only Allies not Ninjetti, but they were an ancient space faring empire from all accounts. In sheer numbers they might even the score and they may have technologies that could assist them.

"I think it is worth a try." He announced suddenly and Trini flashed him a sceptical look that wounded his confidence but he stuck resolutely to his course of action. Trini saw that he wouldn't move on this point and with an audible sigh altered the course of the two Ninjetti Zords to enter into what was reputed to be Chi'iten Space.

~*~

After Billy had summoned Skye to join them, all three of the Ninjetti sat in a cold uncomfortable silence as they penetrated deeper and deeper into Chi'iten space without any sign of contact. Billy frowned as they swung through some outlying solar systems. They appeared to have been inhabited at some point but were desolate now. It was an eiree sensation, like tiptoeing through a galactic graveyard, waiting for someone to jump out from behind the planetary equivalent of a gravestone.

"We better broadcast on all channels." Billy said eventually into the hushed silence. "They were reluctant allies, only forced to aid the Ninjetti by a devastating attack on their homeworld. They may not appreciate visitors." The thought occurred to him that they might not appreciate the Ninjetti in general but it was a little late to worry about that now. Besides, that would be admitting to Trini that he had been wrong in his decision to bring them into this sector of space. 

"What are they again?" Trini asked trying to mentally prepare herself for the encounter. It didn't make a good impression when you recoiled in horror, or just felt the urge to laugh compulsively at a new race. The Shanrishu's resemblance to Munchkins had kept all three of them in barely repressed fits of giggles for days, especially as they were a highly formal and dignified race. Mind you that had been before Aquitar. They hadn't laughed together like that since their trip to the Ocean planet.

Skye looked up briefly. "The Chi'iten." he supplied in a soft voice.

"I know that!" Trini snapped sharply. She took a couple of deep breaths. "WHAT are they?, reptilian like the Drakan?, aquatic like the Aquitians? Avian like the Ronani?" She frowned at herself for losing control so easily and at Skye too. He was not the one who she was angry with, aside from him refusing to say what was wrong with him.

"Insectoid." Skye reported tersely, refusing to meet her gaze directly.

"Like the Edenoi?" Billy asked interested. They had passed by there a just before Aquitar. From what he recalled of the Rangers trip there, their race had evolved from insects but, of course, was essentially humanoid in appearance.

Skye shook his head "Much more like very large bugs by all accounts."

The alarms began to sound a proximity alert and they all focused their attention on the spacecraft approaching their position with great speed. A menancing cruiser with weapons charged and targeted on the linked Wolf and TigerZords swept into view.

"Raiders of the Klaxal! If you do not leave Chi'iten Space you will be destroyed!" an implacable voice stated. There was the faintest hint of a burr in it as if many voices almost but not quite overlapped. The message however, was uncompromising.

"We are not raiders, and we have not heard of the Klaxal. We represent Dulcea of Phaedos. We come to you as Ninjetti!" Trini announced taking the initiative.

"Ninjetti?" the voice questioned sounding sceptical.

"It was long ago," Billy attempted to explain soothingly. "It is possible that the Alliance between the Ninjetti and your people has been forgotten."

"The Chi'iten forget nothing." The voice interrupted harshly and Billy winced to himself. He had obviously made a diplomatic error. A visual image suddenly appeared. And Trini had to prevent herself from gasping. She was reminded irresitably of the time when she was studying Mantis Kung Fu, when she had become exceptionally familiar with the form of the Preying Mantis. Aside from being nearly six foot tall, the Chi'iten appeared exceptionally mantid in form and even had retractable forearm blades. It seemed to be listening to something before it suddenly spoke again.

"You will be towed to homeworld. We are bound by the Original Covenant between our races to hear the first representatives of the Ninjetti to approach us after the Great War. Despite the significant time elapse, you are the first envoys to have approached us since that time. The Conclave would converse with you. You will be brought aboard our ship. Prepare yourself." The tone was clinical and unforgiving.

Before Billy could answer, all three of them blurred and were suddenly standing aboard the Alien bridge. There was a faint spicy aroma to the air as they were approached by a group of six Chi'iten.

"Greetings." they said in unison "I am Vy-Ru-Sa-Mi-Ka-Lo"

The Ninjetti exchanged looks, mildly confused by their behaviour. Maybe it was a formal title, so Billy decided to respond in kind.

"I am Billy, Blue Wolf Ninjetti Spirit Warrior."

"I am Trini, Gold Tiger Ninjetti Spirit Warrior."

"I am Skye, Star Ninjetti." Skye finished their recitation.

"Ah, single unit beings." the six said as one, "We will disassociate to this level."

One of the great insects strode forward "I am Vy. You are to consider yourself guests of the Chi'iten Empire. Separate them."

Three Chi'iten detached themselves from the group and approached each of the Ninjetti separately.

Billy's mind buzzed with questions and protests but they were swiftly lead away from each other. He looked anxiously after Trini but with their forearm blades unsheathed he believed they would be disembowelled before they could morph. They had no real option but to go with their "hosts".

~*~

Trini was escorted to a strange but luxurious chamber by the Chi'iten Ru. As it didn't appear to be a dungeon or a jail, Trini felt she was within her rights to start to assert herself.

"When can I see my friends?" she demanded as they entered the room. Angry though she was with Billy she did not want to see him hurt; and Skye they were both worried about.

Ru emitted a low discordant buzz of confusion. Obviously her question was somewhat unexpected. "I do not understand. You are a single unit beings? Yet you feel deprivation as if you were separate from a collective?" the insect warrior asked the confusion evident in its tone.

Trini nodded. "Yes, that appears to sum it up."

The mantid Chi'iten studied her with large facetted ebony eyes. "I was not aware that single unit beings could behave in such a civilised manner."

"Are you not a single unit being?" Trini asked curiously. The mantid appeared to have her own identity so it seemed logical that she would be an individual.

Ru reared back her forearm blades unsheathing again with an odd brittle scraping sound. "You would be wise not to suggest such a thing." the mantid warned in a low muted buzz.

Trini shook her head, drawing in a deep breath to calm her nerves. Having the equivalent of a large serrated sword flash out before her eyes was unsettling to say the least. It was times like this that she wish she could hear her Tigerspirit more clearly, though since Aquitar she had barely been in contact with it and felt quite lonely without it's warm comforting presence.

"I do not understand." She admitted shakily.

"Be seated, I will instruct you." replied the Chi'iten.

She obeyed. If teachers at Angel Grove had had weapons like those, homework would never have been late!

"Each Chi'iten is a part of a chi-lax, a composite entity of life-mates and siblings, offspring and companions. I am Ru of the chi-lax Vy-Ru-Sa-Mi-Ka-Lo. It is a small chi-lax, as only such are sent on combat missions. A group of chi-lax forms the composite entity of a chi-ix, chi-ix together for a chi-var and so on. The composite entity of the entirety of our race is the Chi'iten." Ru explained patiently as if to a child.

Trini was stunned. Ru seemed too...individual to submerge herself as part of a composite entity. "But how can you be individual and one entity at the same time?" she asked grappling with the concept.

"As each cell of your body is individual leads an individual life but associates with others in a harmonious progression until you, the composite entity is the result." Ru explained. "However the consciousness of the cell is nothing compared to the mind that arises from the interaction of all cells working in harmony. Single unit beings are not civilised enough establish permanent connections with their own kind, they are too self-orientated." It said with a hint of superiority.

"Ah" Trini nodded, trying to grasp the implications of that concept, and privately disagreeing with some of the mantid creatures assumptions. Did that mean they had no sense of self, of self-worth? Or knowledge, surely that meant that each chi'iten, as part of a composite, had access to the knowledge of all other Chi'iten?

"Does that mean you know everything the others know?." She asked steering away from the other more controversial questions. It would not do to anger them when they appeared to be prisoners.

"That would only happen if there was a Singing of the Great Song" Ru supplied "And that has only occurred three times in the long history of our race. Other Songs have occurred for various reasons. Otherwise, yes, we can share our memories within the chi-lax"

"Singing of the Great Song?" Trini queried intrigued. That sounded fascinating.

Ru bowed her head raising her wings a little in a ritualistic movement. "We are but notes in the harmony of the Great Song" and after that she would say no more.

~*~

Billy had an informative conversation with the Chi'iten Mi. There seemed to be no censorship on the information passed to him and he had made good use of that fact. He had discovered that the vast Chi'iten Empire spanned a hundred solar system each inhabited by billions of Chi'iten and that they had been constantly raided by a nomadic space faring race, the Klaxal. From Mi's graphic description the Klaxal were arachnid in nature, though when described as venomous with a stinging tail they sounded much more like a scorpion than the immediate images of six foot spiders that had leapt to Billy's mind.

Of late, however, it appeared that the Klaxal raids had become more frequent and intense, their aim seeming to shift from raid for goods or profit, to wide scale destruction. The Vy-Ru-Sa-Mi-Ko-Lo Chi-lax (who, in an interesting development, were the unpowered equivalent of the Power Rangers on Earth) were one of those groups responsible for swift response to reported incursions and attacks.

Billy mused silently on the potential of the Chi'iten as an ally or as actual Ninjetti. They would be invaluable. If they could Quest for the Great Power then many thousands of Ninjetti would swell their ranks and if not, they would gain the support of their substantial fleet. They had to persuade the Conclave to ally with them! He gave a wry smile to himself. Of course this was assuming they were not going to be executed on sight when they were brought before this Conclave. He ought to stop getting ahead of events in his thoughts.

~*~

Skye, wrapped in his cocoon of imposed isolation did not even try to strike up conversation with the Chi'iten escorting him. His mind wandered over familiar ground and whilst he was distracted he let his tight mind blocks slip just a little, enough so he could brush the mind of the great insect next to him. There was something soothing about touching the mind of a Chi'iten, like hearing a beautiful distant song on the wind, almost out of earshot. He did not ask much of Ka but rested, listening to the hypnotic melody of the mantid warriors' mind. It had been a while since he had reached out to a mind. Ever since Aquitar - since Alesto had destroyed his hopes, he had shut himself away from Billy and Trini for fear they might read his despair and their hope be crushed also. Hiding hadn't stopped the dreams however, they became worse if anything as time went on. Sometimes it was as if images lurked behind his vision even now.. Gently, without even realising it, he had slipped into rapport with Ka - his abilities had come a long way from the times he had established links with his friends.

__

You are of Us! mindspoke Ka in astonishment feeling the humans mindpresence.

__

I am human, Skye replied startled into wakefulness.

__

You are of us, you are a Note in the Great Song, I hear you! Ka buzzed with excitement. _Join us._ The massive insect turned and mentally allowed the rush of complex distant voices vast and overwhelming to reach out to envelop him. The Star Ninjetti recoiled. He could not lose himself in that tangled maze of otherthought!

"_I cannot...I am...too dark inside. I would bring only disharmony _Skye protested. Besides if he did and they saw what he thought, what he knew about their efforts, then they would never get them to sign on as Allies.

__

We shall see Ka said calmly before silently leaving the Star Ninjetti to his now, curiously empty, solitary thoughts.

~*~

The homeworld of the Chi'iten was nothing like how Trini had imagined. She'd thought of tunnels riddling the surface, darkness and packed claustrophobic chambers. Instead it was filled with soaring spun glass towers that were dazzling in the light. It was hard to imagine an insect race to have such a deep appreciation of beauty, but it was plainly obvious that the huge Tsoma, or City-Nests had been designed to not only be functional but pleasing to the eye and all the other senses. As they stepped from the ship they could see the skies filled with the Chi'iten gliding from tower to tower on glistening rainbow gossamer wings. The place was filled with a rich spicy odour that smelt edible in it's intoxicating flavour and everywhere ornate wind harps and chimes, thrummed and rippled dazzling glissando's of sound. It was all Billy, Trini and Skye could do to watch where they were going, so enthralled were they by the dazzling sights and sounds around them.

They were eventually ushered into a massive light filled structure of that strange glassy material that opened out into stadium like arena. They found themselves escorted to a central dias and stood looking about in wonder as, with startling insect speed, groups of Chi'ten began to pour into the place in their thousands each finding their place without any conflict or apparent communication.

"This would be the Conclave I guess" Billy said dryly looking around at the multitudes of Chi'iten.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Trini muttered with mock sweetness, feeling nervous at the swarms of giant insects filling the arena around her.

Billy ignored her comment focussing on the action around him.

Abruptly all movement ceased and a large mantid nearly ebony black with age stepped forward and began to speak, with a rumble in it's voice suggesting the multitudes of minds behind that voice.

"Ninjetti envoys of Phaedos - we admit you to the Conclave as prescribed in the Memory Laws. Know then that our duty is done- we will hear your words. But expect nothing of the Chi'iten. The Alliance ended after the war when the Enemy was destroyed." The voice was harsh and authoritarian. It was now obvious that the Chi'iten were not overly impressed by the Ninjetti as a whole, and probably not much by them in particular.

The three stepped forward, Billy in the centre, Trini on his left, Skye on his right.

"Honoured Chi'iten, hear me" Billy began. "The Wardstones placed deep in the Galactic void have flared warning. The Time approaches that all races wished would not occur, that time which the Oldest ones have guarded against for untold millenia." He took a deep breath, they wanted formal? he would give them formal! "Take heed of my words! The Sun goes Down. Beware the Darkness Visible!"

There was a susurration of alarm from the crowd.

Billy paused a moment letting the noise die down. "In accordance with the Ma'rai Sphere containing Ancient Mysteries of the Ninjetti, we have been sent to seek out Allies and those who can become Ninjetti spirit warriors against the coming darkness!" Billy finished his speech on a resounding note. There was absolute silence.

"We have our own problems" The Conclave said flatly after a few moments consideration. "The Klaxal raiders that plague our Empire have a new leader and a new weapon that devastates our cities. We have none of our own to spare for an ally that abandoned us after the Great War. Ninjetti did not help us when the one called Dark Spectre stole the existence and Song of our Singer Queen in the distant past. You are not worthy of our trust." It was quite plainly a dismissal and Billy winced. Damn!

Trini stepped forward to speak forcefully when an eiree sound filled the air, strange but unmistakably an alarm.

"The Klaxal come! They strike at home world! Whilst we have been distracted by you, the enemy has caught us unawares!" The Conclave said urgently. "All Che-var to emergency posts"

"Conclave! Let us help you fight the Klaxal!" Trini pleaded, thinking maybe if they could not be persuaded by diplomacy, then maybe they could be convinced by a demonstration of assistance in a time of trouble.

"If we give you access to your ships then you will flee." The Conclave stated. It still harboured feelings of abandonment, and was reluctant to trust them at all.

"You question the honour of the Ninjetti?" Trini challenged with deadly calm and was surprised as a blush of white shame flowed across the Chi'iten.

"We have no time to argue. I suggest one of us remain here as guarantor for our return." Billy suggested urgently. He looked across at Skye who gave an imperceptible sigh and nod as agreement. He would much rather go with Billy and Trini, but there was not time to argue this through.

Skye stepped forward. "I will remain. I am not the warrior of the group, the others have much more battle experience than myself."

"Agreed." The Conclave said in a surprised tone.

"Ready?" Billy asked Trini, adrenalin already starting to rush through him.

"Lets go!" Trini said, her dark eyes glittering fiercely.

"Blue Wolf Ninjetti Spirit Warrior...Now!"

"Gold Tiger Ninjetti Spirit Warrior...Now!"

Skye watched as they vanished in their respective flashes of blue and gold light. Left behind again. He knew they did it to protect him but, he would much rather be out there with them both.

"It will do no good." The Conclave said fatalistically. "It is likely that we are all destroyed - we have not developed a defence for their new weapon. We have had to abandon world after world as they have approached, and they have plundered and destroyed all the Tsoma they have come across."

"Do not underestimate the Ninjetti. Billy is an experienced scientist and warrior, as is Trini. He will find a way." Skye defended his friends stoutly.

"There may not be a way to be found. Assuming there is, it will not be enough to save homeworld as our forces have been greatly depleted. The Klaxal will be within striking distance in a short period of time." the Conclave stated with implacable finality.

"There must be a way! A way to protect the population...evacuation or some sort of defence!" Skye said in frustration, clutching at straws.

There was a brief pause before the Conclave replied "No, there is no viable solution."

But the hesitation was enough to fan the brief hope in Skye to life. There was something that they could do. "You do have a means to protect yourself... tell me!" he demanded becoming strangely assertive in his desperation.

"A way that is not possible as we have no mature Singer-Queen..." The Conclave said sorrowfully.

Skye blinked. He'd expected some sort of super weapon or domesday device. What was a "Singer Queen"? "Tell me more!"

The Conclave declined. "There is no use exploring theoretical possibilities. We must rely upon our physical defences and the assistance of the Ninjetti warriors." but the manifold voice did not sound particularly hopeful of any degree of success.

~*~

The Scorpion-ships of the Klaxal raiders were compact and deadly and swarmed out of the darkness in a venomous horde. Trini flew the golden Tiger-zord directly against their assault with a passion and ferocity that astonished the Chi'iten, devastating the Klaxal first wave attack.

Billy assisted but was more interested in the data being gathered by WolfZords' keen sensors. "Trini! Fall back!" he advised urgently scanning his readouts. "There are large motherships moving in!"

Trini snarled to herself in the privacy of her Zord cockpit. "If I have to take them on I will...what else is going to stop them?"

"You are not going to solve or save anything if you get blasted out of the sky!" Billy said with a pained expression. _Please Trini, don't argue with me now,_ he thought to himself.

Sensing the genuine concern in his voice, Trini spun TigerZord backwards just as a Klaxal mothership fired upon them. The beam struck a Chi'iten ship which, instead of exploding, appeared to warp, twist and crumple inward like a grotesque fullsize version of a paper model. Eventually it did explode but it was painfully slow. Even worse was the fact that the area on the moon behind the ship did exactly the same, twisted and deformed.

"What the ..." Trini gasped, barely believing her eyes.

"A molecular deformation weapon!" Billy announced horrified. His mind shuffled idea's swiftly, formulating and discarding concepts. There were similarities - molecular manipulation had been a frequent problem with Rita, Zedd and Mondo. This time he needed to stop the beam, not correct it's effects.

"Vy-ru-sa-mi-ka-lo...Do you have anything like a parabolic emitter system that covers this area?" He asked urgently. He could remember enough of the inventions he had worked on in the past to know he could build something to block the beam transmission if he just had something capable of blanketing the Klaxal invasion force.

"The systems communications in orbit run on something similar." They replied.

"Good enough....take me to the central communications area." Billy ordered already planning his moves. WolfZord sped towards the communications space station, and the wolf ninjetti grabbed tools and parts as the Zord docked on auto-pilot and he teleported to the control centre.

"Hurry Billy!" Trini yelled. "If one of those beams hits the Cities...and the Conclave.." She left the rest unspoken as she whirled back into the fray.

~*~

There were too many of them, too many to fight effectively on her own. Some of the tiny fighters began to scuttle past her deadly pouncing attack heading towards the planet below. In front of her a squadron of enemy ships swung back around at her and her eye was caught by the flash of the lead ship against space. The pattern clicked - they were following the direction of THAT gold and red fighter. Ignoring Billy's shouts over the communicators she spun Tiger Zord on it's tail and sped after the lead ship. 

"Trini! Trini, there is a squadron of fighters going in behind the moon! Behind the MOON!" Billy yelled urgently, only to see the Golden TigerZord peel off and head in the opposite direction. Billy worked frantically with the Chi'iten in the communications satellite to try and adapt the system into a molecular deformation jammer. He originally was unable to understand why such an advanced race had such primitive electronic communications and why they hadn't considered using carrier waves. Eventually it occurred to him that with their species wide telepathy they would not have need to develop elaborate ways of communicating - they already had the best version available.

The fact that Trini was out there fighting did not aid his concentration. Something was wrong, why had she gone after that ship? He glanced up at the screens picking up the first explosions on the planet surface with a cold crawling feeling inside. Maybe too late already. He twisted the last wire into place with fevered haste.

"There - the adjustments are made" he said. "The emitters must charge first..."

"It is too late to save Homeworld" One of the Chi'iten working with him said mournfully. Explosions could be see in the planets atmosphere as fighters engaged in aerial combat in a last ditch attempt to protect the spun-glass cities.

"No!" Billy shouted "There must be a way there must!" He slammed his fist against the metal console in a futile attempt to relieve his fear and frustration.

"Trini! Trini?" he called urgently into his communicator and got no response.

"Damn!" He ought to stay here, but Skye and the Chi'iten were down there on the nigh on defenceless planet, and he couldn't just watch as fighters closed in to destroy them all. First rule of being a Power Ranger of any type, protecting the innocent came before anything else.

"Local Teleport to Wolfzord - now!" he shouted in anger and concern and flashed to the Zord controls. As fast as he could he sped through space, a blue wolf-shadow against the stars, to intercept the attacking Motherships.

**__**

You do realise this is perhaps one of the most stupid things you three have ever done? his wolfspirit suddenly wolfspoke.

__

I haven't noticed you stopping us up until now Billy retorted. In fact his animal spirit had been particularly quiet up until now.

**__**

Because I couldn't believe you could behave so un-wolflike the wolf spirit berated.

"This is not the time!" Billy said aloud.

**__**

The way you three are going it might be the only chance I have! How exactly are you going to take those motherships on your own? The wolf actually sounded angry with him **_Think about this! There is a difference between blind stupidity and courage in the face of overwhelming odds._**

Then get the Tiger Spirit to get Trini over here to attack the ships! he said frustrated. _Get Skye to reach out and overwhelm them with his mind.! I cannot do this alone_

****

You are correct, you cannot do this alone the wolfspirit advised, **_but is this where your attitude as led you? You have behaved as Not-Pack._** the wolfspirits tone made the phrase a vile epithet. **_You have allowed the distance between you to grow because you have not had the courage to face the problem and deal with it. I mean you, I mean the Tiger cub and the Star Bearer!_**

Billy flinched as he twisted and turned from the scorpion-fighters fire, more from the harsh words than from the physical threat in space.

"Fine! You are correct, as always. I can't lead as Tommy does, or Jason - I'm sorry, but if you wanted someone who could then you should have chosen one of them, not someone who finds communication a torture from hell! I cannot MAKE Skye talk to me, any more than I appear to be able to get Trini to LISTEN!" Billy shouted aloud in the cockpit.

There was a silence from his Wolfspirit and for a horrible moment Billy thought he had driven his Wolfspirit away completely.

**__**

The Star-one is being dealt with by other means, but the young Tiger will listen only when you say something worthwhile. It said quietly. **_But as all chances of change will be lost if you do nothing then let us see about delaying this attack by the bitter scorpion spirits. Now let them see your Wolfteeth!_**

With which Billy spun around to strafe the Klaxal mothership in a desperate and futile attack to delay them from firing long enough for the molecular deformation jammer to broadcast it's lifesaving protection across the planet.

~*~

Trini, with all her anger and frustration focussed on the lead fighter listened in on their frequencies for clues. There was something familiar about the way it fought and manoeuvred that she couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to kick herself when she discovered who was leading this attack. The red-gold enemy ship twisted and turned away from her diving into an asteroid belt and then stopped suddenly. Trini, caught unawares shot past and nearly twenty fighters appeared as if from the void itself. A trap! A womans' laugh, rich with delighted evil finally jogged her memory as she whirled TigerZord to face her attackers.

"Scorpina!" she said through clenched teeth. Always one for an ambush.

"I'm glad you remember me Ninjetti. I remember when you were a mere little yellow ranger, and you are still as stupid now as you were then!" Scorpina hissed in derision. "You should have listened to your blue boyfriend and gone back - together you might have been able to stop my friends the Klaxal, but with you out here...dear oh dear...where is that legendary teamspirit..did you have a lovers tiff?"

Trini found herself with her face locked in a snarl of defiance visualising her old enemy's supercilious smile.

"Shut up! We beat you on Earth, I'll beat you here.."

"Did I touch a nerve dear?" Scorpina said with malicious honey sweetness. "On Earth, I was surrounded by losers, now I am surrounded by fellow arachnids, each with a sting potent enough to take out a pussy-cat like you."

Trini reached for her Tiger-Spirit, trying to invoke that devastating ability of the Tiger Dance she had discovered on Drakan, but her emotions were too tumultuous, she was out of control, so she had to settle for flying for her very life. "If you catch a Tiger by the Tail Scorpina...you better hold on tight!" She warned defiantly as she opened up her fearsome array of weapons in a golden rush of destructive power. She had to get back! She had to get back to help Billy and Skye.

Scorpina just laughed at her strong words, bolts of energy launching at the Tigerzord from the tail of the red gold scorpion fighter. "You do realise that your mutt of a boyfriend is trying to take on our motherships alone? For some reason he wants to stop them destroying the Cities of the insects, but obviously that is not important to you.. cats have no sense of Honour." The villainess jibed.

Trin felt a cold chill; the worst thing about this was that Scorpina was right about leaving innocents defenceless. Once before she had let a jibe about honour nearly draw her and the team into destruction, and this time she was going to learn from that mistake.

She turned the Golden TigerZord around, finally resolved to abandon the fight with her old enemy Scorpina and as she sped away she heard her mocking laugh ringing in her ears. "But you are already too late! Much too late!"

~*~

Billy flew Wolf Zord once again straight on at the Klaxal mother ship, peppering it's vast bulk with explosions but very little in the way of permanent damage.

"Remind me to upgrade our weapons system as a matter of urgency!" he said aloud to himself.

He jerked back on the controls, rolling from a maelstrom of destructive power streaming from the massive hideously shaped mothership, crawling ever closer to its intended prey like a space faring spider preparing to suck the life from it's defenceless prey. WolfZord was small but fast and Billy, following the instincts of his Wolfspirit, tried to hamstring the monstrous spider-scorpion by launching a Ninjetti plasma charge at the propulsion system. The blast impacted but failed to break the shielding.

"No!" Billy shouted. He had made himself vulnerable in his attack for nothing. WolfZord was hit by enemy fire from all around, throwing him from his seat against the control panel with a painful impact and sending them spinning away in the darkness.

He had failed!

~*~

Skye paced the floor, limping still in frustration. A deafening explosive roar ripped out the far side of the Conclave arena throwing him to the ground with it's concussive force. Tiny splinters of the clear glass like material showered onto him and using the Star Crystal he created a small repelling shield to protect him from the piercing rain. An idea occurred to him.

"You have similar abilities...to those I have whilst using the crystal" he said excitedly remembering the Chi'iten Ka's words to him. "Could you not project a shield if enough of you got together?."

The Conclave spoke reluctantly "In the distant past we could do this, when we bred warrior che-lax to war on the ManyHives, under the command of their Singer Queen they could do many wondrous things, including shields and defences. "

"So..sing and protect your world! You say you never forget anything, you must know how to do it!" Skye demanded with uncharacteristic assertion.

"We remember - of all things in our culture, the Singer Queen is most sacred." The Conclave said managing to sound despondent.

"And the problem is?" Skye questioned, flinching from another explosion. The smell of acrid smoke began to fill the air around him.

"That the birth of a Singer Queen occur less and less frequently, perhaps once in a generation - and the current candidate is too immature to hold the Song. We try every planetary cycle, but She is too young." The Conclave explained.

Skye muttered curses that the others would have been surprised he knew. "But she knows how to do it yes?" he queried a desperate plan forming in his mind.

"Yes, the knowledge is innate. But that will profit none of us for the Klaxal motherships are nearly within range and there is nothing to stop them."

"What if..what if I linked with her and became the focus for the Song?" Skye blurted out. "With the Star Crystal of Sionas I believe it is possible." To be truthful, he had no idea if it was or not but at this late stage he was willing to try anything.

The Conclave had a brief conference with itself as fighters screeched banshee like overhead. Skye had earlier caught a brief glimpse of a familiar Zord shape chasing down the enemy fighters and his heart sank. If Billy were fighting in WolfZord then his attempts to stop the Klaxal with science must have failed.

"We will try it - there is nothing to lose." The Conclave said desperately reaching a similar conclusion. "Prepare to be contacted by our young Queen."

"I will attempt to be a...Singer for you." Skye said realising this was literally his last chance. The Klaxal motherships were visible in the sky above them. They looked like immense spider shadows crawling behind the clouds of billowing smoke that spiralled heavenwards from all the destruction.

"We must hurry!" He raised the Star Crystal high and called the power to go within himself. Painfully he began to open the rigid blocks and defences he had erected around his abilities since Aquitar, tearing them down in a frenzy of self preservation. He became progressively more aware of the roaring multitude of Chi'iten thought around him, deafening like a mighty ocean swirling around his mind. A wave of awe and reverence swept him into it's embrace as the mind touch of the young Queen was transmitted through the minds of the insect race to envelop him in a velvet smooth cool touch.

"Open yourself to me" the feminine voice echoed within "Give yourself to the music within."

The harmony of minds swirled and he felt reluctant to push forward to submerge into the Great Symphony.

__

You must let go of yourself her soft Chi'iten voice advised _You are the Singer and the Song, and the singer is nothing without a song and the song nothing without a singer. Together they are everything, Apart they are nothing but potential. You must become one with the Great Song, you must accept your part in the harmony of All things._ She showed him the inborn knowledge, that innate instinct that showed her how to take the minds of her race and forge them into a focused whole, that meant giving your identity totally over to the acceptance of the harmony of their minds and in doing so becoming their mind-focus. Skye's human independence shrieked at the prospect of abandoning it's importance but the Queen insisted that the Power of her race could not be influenced by the mind, but by the deep instinctive needs common to all, guided by the singer.

Skye felt the truth of this and with the danger they were in, he had nothing to lose. He opened his mind, his spirit to the Queen who in turn began to Channel the Song towards him. In his mind the energy began to swirl around him drawing upwards in a tornado of light, eroding away anything that he had set up to protect himself to keep others out. The song was like a singing spear of light that pierced him through. He channelled the Song through the Star Crystal as more and more of the Song was added as it took on a life of its own he felt like he was swirling away in a harmony that allowed nothing for himself and stripped him of everything. Yet strangely he felt more worth in himself when he was a note of the Great Song, because he was a part of something so much more than himself, and yet without him the harmony would be lessened. There was a need..a fundamental unconscious need to survive the threat, to preserve this magnificent harmony and a part of him coloured that desire with the Ninjetti ethos to protect and defend. Somehow this theme rose through the harmonious minds to dominate the Chi'iten song, and he pushed it's strength outwards towards the threat as hard as he could, in the process dropping behind the framework of the Great Song into emptiness.

~*~

As the deadly beams arced down towards the surface prepared to crumple the Tsoma NestCities and Billy spun helplessly in the damaged wolfzord, his side burning with his impact against the controls, he mouthed a silent inarticulate No of horror as he was unable to stop the slaughter about to occur.

Over the communicator he heard a familiar gasp and desperate cry of "Skye!" from Trini.

And then, out of nowhere a shimmering dome seemed to erupt from the city of the Conclave, which like a shimmering bubble of energy expanded relentlessly outwards and upwards towards them. The weapons fire met its surface and clung, producing coruscating light at the shield interface, but then simply vanished into its dancing energy.

"What is that!?" Billy asked aloud to the Chi'iten in awe. He got no response. He manually activated the frequencies, visual and audio and all he could see were the Mantids apparently frozen midway through what they were doing.

The energy swept towards them and even if he wanted to Billy could not of escaped it's passage. As it passed through him, for the briefest moment he felt the immense presence of the minds of an entire race focused as one, and a sound that resonated like the music heard only in dreams which fade with the opening of the eyes into the waking day.

At that moment, the jammer finally charged and blanketed the environs of Chi'iten space with it's dampening field that rendered the Klaxal motherships essentially weaponless.

There was an explosion of vile and strange curses and Trini smiled sweetly. "Oh dear Scorpina, did we break your toys?"

Their past enemy scowled, her plans destroyed by the strange shield phenomena.

"You'll regret this Tiger Ninjetti! Our time is nearly upon us - the Power of our Alliance has been growing and developing whilst Old fools like Zordon and the Council of the Wise have tried to pretend change does not occur. " Gone was Scorpina smooth self-assurance, and in it's place an outpouring of poisonous threats. "Do you think the Darkness Visible will not have changed in the aeons it has been gone? Do you not think it might not be stronger than before? Think on that ninjetti whelps, crawling in the dark seeking aid from races who will roll on their backs when the Darkness unfurls over their skies! Then consider the wisdom of the Scorpion who makes Darkness it's ally!" With that parting vituperative shot Scorpina turned her red and gold fighter around and sped out into space.

~*~

Skye drifted within the Great Song, having pushed himself behind the incredible sound into the silence that made it all possible.

And here there was a voice, a voice that sounded like his own thoughts coming unbidden into his mind.

__

You have found me again a thought said in his head _As I found you those many years ago and made you mine _

Skye felt a thrilling recognition. _The Nameless One _he identified.

There was the impression of laughter. _In some ways, yes, in others completely wrong. I have no name and I have the only name, and in singing a part of that Name you have come to me_ The voice appeared to say.

Skye felt a chill as he thought back to Aquitar. _I'm not sure that I want to be here_.

__

What does tasting bitterness over and over benefit you? Let it go, swallow it and accept it.

Skye railed into the darkness. _How can I? I was told....I was told there was no hope. The Prophecies all show that this time we will probably not win, that whatever we do my friends will be destroyed, I will be destroyed, everything will be destroyed! You brought me back, put me, put all of us through that for nothing?!_

Not for nothing, never for nothing came the soothing response.

__

But you are the source of the prophecies! * Skye pointed out.

__

It is more complex than that. I would not bring you back if there were not hope. I would not have intervened directly at all if there were not more to this than even the Prophecies forsee. You must understand that there is always hope and you and you friends and what you do, is the focus of that hope. You must reconnect them. It will be vital. There was no mistaking the sense of urgency in that message.

Skye felt the darkness on him lift slightly.

__

Then the Prophecies are false? he asked hopefully.

__

Let it be said they are incomplete, but what has been said cannot be unsaid. But in what has been unsaid lies the potential for salvation. The Danger is greater than is written, but brings with it more choices than before. Learn to exist in that paradox my son, that is the most important thing of all.

Still flowing in the song Skye felt these words in the deepest most private parts of himself.

__

I will, but how can the danger be greater than is written? he asked with trepidation. _The Darkness Visible is the most potent force of evil ever experienced by this Galaxy._

True, but it is a child compared to other forces in the universe. There are many things more Evil or dangerous that exist. Beyond every Evil another greater darkness lies in wait.

Then if it is but a Child to you, then why are you involved? Skye challenged the voiceless words.

__

Because a child sometimes has not learnt that playing with matches can destroy as easily as it can illuminate. In that ignorance of danger they can set into motion catastrophic events that more powerful being would never consider out of self-preservation. A child will press a button not realising it is connected to a bomb that could destroy everything. The chilling knowledge appeared in his mind. Skye shuddered. The implications were not good.

__

Now return...you have travelled far to reach me...we will be together soon enough. came the whispered parting before the Presence disappeared and Skye was floating in the Song once more.

It was fading around him as the threat perceived to the Great Song had faded away and he struck upwards pulling himself back to his single unit state. It was hard, very hard. All that time (how long?) being a part of the Song to return to being a note. The paradox was that being a note was being the Song! You turned from one to the other, focussing it through yourself and....

~*~

Kimberley sat up in bed, in the darkness of her dorm room her mind filled with the most incredible sound, resonating, filling her with harmony and light. Like the music of the spheres it was totally indescribable but filled her with a wild exaltation. She wanted to laugh and cry, leap up and stay still, run out into the corridors to tell the world and keep this for herself. It was not the ghost memory of a dream it was happening now! For this time, this moment she was in completely and utterly connected with everything.

She leapt out of bed and heedless of her appearance ran down the dimly lit corridor to the practice hall. It's moonlit mat seem oddly illuminated by the purity of the sound in her mind and it's infinite variety. She began to move to the internal music, letting it sweep her in its harmony and sliding so easily into that elusive "something" that she had been seeking all this time. The improvised routine was an expression of this unity and strength inside and was more moving, more natural than anything she had slaved over in the past few months. She finished just as the sensation ended, spiralling away into a distant silence and she murmured "Protection, unity and protection, harmony is strength." This was what it had been like as a Power Ranger, in touch with the Power, part of the team, using their added strength and togetherness to protect the greater harmonies of the Earth. This is what she would show them! Inside she had that wildfire feeling of a nervous expectancy, of something being required of her. This was what she would share, and through it she knew what she would try and do. Kim sat alone in the silvered moonlight and smiled an exultant secret smile.

~*~

Without warning the shimmering shield ceased in an instant and the Chi'iten were released. They lifted their forearms and spread their rainbow wings in a very ritualistic movement, but Billy was more interested in seeing if his friends were safe, especially Skye. He had at least heard Trini over the communicator. As hard as he had tried he had been unable to prevent some of the attacks on the Tsoma NestCity where the Conclave arena was based and where they had left their friend for 'safe keeping'.

"Skye?" Billy called into his communicator with an edge of desperation "Skye!?".

There was no response.

"Trini?" he queried, though he had heard her voice over the communicator.

"Here." Trini replied tiredly "and before you ask, no contact from Skye." They both paused in silence for a moment. Trini closed into visual range of the damaged WolfZord. 

Her eyes widened at the results of Billy's close encounter with the Klaxal Mothership. "Billy!? Are you okay? It looks like that giant spider-scorpion chewed you up and spat you out again."

"I'm fine, a bit battered but fine." He brushed off her concern. "I cannot control WolfZord at all until the Zebeedees have finished repairing it and we have to get to the planet now!"

"I'll pick you up." Trini said her attention divided between her concern for Billy and for Skye. She felt sick at the sight of the damage. If she had been there, this would not have happened! If they had all stuck together then Skye would be answering, Billy would not have been in danger or hurt and maybe there would not have been so much damage to the planet.

~*~

They teleported to the Conclave only to still hear a deafening chorus of song from every Chi'iten ,all standing with rainbow wings unfurled in the same manner. Trini and Billy pushed through the hosts of insects to the Conclave Chamber. Even through the crowds they could Skye's sprawled body lying on the floor of the chamber. Billy ran through the Chi'iten chorus, to his friend, terrified that there might be a deathly stillness about him. Quite the opposite, Skye's chest was heaving, his muscles trembling and he was covered in perspiration as if he had been doing something inhumanely strenuous. The Star Ninjetti was gasping for breath and seemingly exhausted, but he was conscious.

"You okay?" Billy asked gently pulling him up. Skye was unable to speak but nodded feebly.

"Here." Trini said bringing some water and helping him take a sip. He coughed and Trini poured some of the water over him to help cool him down. All around them the song continued, until Billy began to get irritated. Here was their friend on the verge of collapse and they were just singing!

Fortunately, Vy-Ru-Sa-Ka-mi-La arrived and Ka approached with some sort of medication that calmed the Ninjetti rapidly. Billy was relieved and then surprised as he felt Skye's mindtouch reached out to him and Trini.

__

I'm fine...tired but fine his mind voice said. There was a brief smile before he said aloud. "But this..time...I didn't go to sleep on the job!" he gasped out triumphantly.

"Don't tire yourself anymore" Billy admonished smiling at the private joke. Skye smiled back and sat up with some help.

"Now I know singing is such hard work, I will never laugh at Tanya ever again!" He cracked with a tiny bit of his old humour.

The singing stopped suddenly and the Chi'iten bowed with deepest respect to the Ninjetti.

The Voice of the Conclave spoke. "Che-lax Billy-Trini-Skye you have done us a great honour."

"Then you will join our cause?" Billy asked eagerly. In all the excitement he had nearly forgotten their purpose in being here in the first place. " You will join with the Ninjetti against the forces of the Zha'Kha-ree'aa?"

The Ebony Chi'iten said "You are a che-lax with a Singer...He may not be a Singer Queen and a mother to our Race..."

"I should hope not" Skye muttered.

"But he has held the Song in his heart, and if he can do that, then he holds the Chi'iten in his heart also. A Singer may not be denied! And your Singer took us to the depths of the Great Song, encompassing the great mysteries. Our entire race would follow the Song that your Singer has brought forth from the Great Song. But know now that the passion with which you fought on our behalf and the advances and inventions that will preserve our kind against the Klaxal would have proven your worth. The Chi'iten will be with you as Ninjetti and in whatever manner required." The Conclave stated unequivocally.

Billy smiled with relief. They had done it! "It is my hope that Ninjetti Chi'iten will fight alongside Ninjetti of all species against the enemy."

"In unity is the course of wisdom" the Conclave intoned. "We ally ourselves with the Ninjetti Spirit Warriors. When the time comes we will follow the Song of unity and protection which your Singer has shown to us."

Skye managed a brief bow in acknowledgement with the support of his friends. "I thankyou for everything" he said fervently. "For giving me this experience." They bowed in response.

The whitehaired artist smiled and glanced across at his friends "The strange thing is I can't carry a tune or sing a note!" he said as an aside and Billy and Trini found themselves chuckling together for the first time in ages.

~*~

Zack Taylor wasn't going to miss this for the world. He'd finished at the Peace Conference and frankly he was glad. After Jason had left, and then Trini, without his friends there is ceased to be fun, it ceased to be worthwhile to him. He came to realise that without his friends very little had value for him any more. So here he was, at the Panglobals trying to make a fragile connection to his past and those heady days that seemed so far away, almost like another life. He had managed to get here to see Kim in the finals. She had been doing well, but the judges seemed to like the more classical style of the Eastern gymnasts. It all came down to this last event, the freestyle routine, if she did well here she was likely to get a medal, if exceptionally well a chance at the gold itself. Whilst he waited he looked around restlessly. And stopped suddenly. The hairs prickled on the back of his neck as he caught sight of a tantalisingly familiar profile to the right of him a few rows down. He was trying to put his finger on it when the young woman, obviously feeling eyes on her turned her head and looked for her mystery observer.

She was beautiful! He was sure he knew her and he was just trying to recollect from where when she met his gaze and gave a quizzical grin. Emboldened, Zach stepped forward and as he did so his loose sleeve rolled up exposing for a moment the "retirement present" communicator Billy had give to him before he had left that he wore more often then not. It was basically only a watch but patterned in sleek black it was stylish, comfortable and familiar. The beautiful stranger's eyes widened in surprise as she caught a glimpse of it and she casually brushed her sleeve back revealing a similar yellow communicator. Like a trigger mechanism, his memories came rushing back. He had not known her for very long at all but he did know her!

"Aisha!" he stated rather than called.

Her smile broadened with recognition and lit up her face. "Zack?"

"Glad to see I'm not totally forgettable!" he said only half joking. "You here with any of the others?"

"Well you know...I wasn't entirely sure that" she began awkwardly "I just couldn't bear the thought of being a total stranger to them, walking up to them and seeing blank expressions...but I didn't want to miss our Kim's big moment!" She sighed. "We were the closest of friends for a long time."

Zack was trying to cope with the fact Aisha had become a stunningly beautiful woman. They had barely met before they had gone to the Peace Conference and she looked fantastic. She's looked good before of course but now he really was in a position to appreciate the difference whereas before he had been single-mindedly pursuing Angela.

"Zack?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you were here with any of them..you know?" Aisha asked curiously.

Zack shook his head slowly. "It's just, well you know, after we gave up, well it would be uncomfortable. I expect they are here though." In fact he was sure he had seen Tommy by the arena edge, but he hadn't seen him for a long time.

"I wonder if Adam and Rocky remember me?" Aisha said in a quiet sad voice. She still remembered growing up with them, being the closest of friends, and the thought that they might not know her because of the Time distortion hurt her deeply.

Zack felt a spurt of jealousy and then berated himself for being ridiculous. He gave a wide grin "I can't see how anyone could forget you Aisha." He said gallantly and receive a genuine smile in return.

"Seriously though - Isn't this a long way to come just to see Kim?" he asked "I mean, I heard that you were in Africa?" From Billy of all people. He wondered what he was doing at the moment. Surely he would be here to see Kim in her moment of glory?

"Actually, I got a scholarship to any university I wanted funded on the basis of my research with the Plague and the cure we eventually found." Aisha replied and then surprised him again. "I selected Angel Grove University - I wanted to come home."

"Really?" Zack said in surprise "Not that you want to come home but that you are going to Angel Grove Uni? I'm registering on Monday too!"

Aisha looked genuinely pleased "In that case, can I meet you and go together?"

"Can we ever! Yes...how about.." Zack began excitedly but was interrupted by the tanoy announcing the turn of Miss Kimberley Hart, performing her freestyle routine called "Touching the Sky." A small graceful and familiar figure walked out onto the mats to finally realise a cherished dream.

Kim raised her arms into the start position and took several deep breaths. As her simple melodic music began, in her mind she called for the memory of that incredible harmony that had resonated through her being and began her unique routine, carried along by that incredible internal song.

~*~

The entire audience of the Panglobals appeared struck silent by the routine being performed in front of them. Tommy watched, his eyes riveted on the graceful form as Kimberley Hart, one of Angel Grove's own, moved with Power and transcendent grace in front of the judges, in front of the world.

"I never knew..." he whispered under his breath. He had never realised the depth of passion Kimberley had to succeed in her gymnastics. He had known she was good, but this was something else. Now he could understand why she had left to try for the Panglobals, why they had not seen each other very often over the last few months, what she had meant when she said she was looking for something special.

"Oh Beautiful...you found it all right, you found it and you are showing the world your heart." He murmured, his mouth dry with the sheer strength of the performance.

Glowing white and brilliant in her white team leotard she was performing the most incredible moves as if she was dancing on air, dancing to a deeper Song than the gentle lyric melody accompanying her. Somehow she created an impression of moving in harmony with the world, with the air, with the light around her and the strength, that inner balance gave her shone through the required techniques for her piece. She did not place a foot wrong and when she finally ceased moving and raised her arms in the traditional ending for a routine there was a moment of absolute silence before the stadium erupted into an uproar of cheering and a standing ovation.

Tommy ran unerringly from his seat across to where she was and swept her into his arms in jubilation as the crowd roared around them.

In a small voice in his ear he heard her say "Do you think I did okay?" and he looked into her dark eyes and laughed. "Oh Beautiful...you've set the place afire....they'll never see anything like that again! You've got the gold for sure."

Around them the roar of the crowd increased in volume as the judges concurred with Tommy's opinion. Kim's dark eyes were glittering with unshed tears of jubilation and over Tommy's shoulder she could see Coach Schmidt standing, staring at the scoreboard, with tears pouring down his face usually stern face. She had fulfilled not only her own lifelong dream but his as well. She was glad for him that she had finally managed to repay him for helping her achieve her own ambition.

People were beginning to rush up to join them and she whispered in the ex-rangers ear urgently. "Did you understand? Do you know what we must do?" before she was helplessly pulled away from him by her over excited team mates.

Tommy laughed as he watched her, her eyes constantly seeking him through the crowds. He knew, he understood. He would have to have been blind not to see her dance who and what they were and what it meant in that routine. How they would do it he didn't know, but at this point in time, caught up in the euphoria of the moment he strangely had no doubt that they would somehow find a way. He smiled at her happiness, the confusion of the last few months swept away in a moment of understanding.

"Oh yeah." He murmured silently to her as the crowds continue roar like a mighty ocean of approval. He grinned again relishing the thought of what they should do, which suddenly seemed so clear and obvious to him in the light of Kim's performance. It would be difficult, as in the time since Billy and Skye had left, and particularly after they had all passed on the Turbo powers there had been a subtle but definite pulling away from each other.

But as his Falcon spirit had once said. _Anything is possible if you will it to be so. But possible is not the same as easy and all things worth having have to be fought for at some point._

Tommy grinned as a sense of purpose descended upon him once again and he sought out Kimberley's glowing face in all the excitement and said silently in a promise to her,

"Time to bring everyone back together."

### End


	10. What a Miracle

**__**

Disclaimer: Saban owns the Power Rangers and I own..nothing. It is a sad truth, but there you go - well I guess I own the others things in this fic that Saban didn't create so that is something. This is the tenth fic in the Sun Goes Down series and it is a mini-fic, but necessary none the less ( and if I don't send it certain people will lynch me). Enjoy!

### What a Miracle...  
by Peregrine

"Stupid pile of junk!" Trini shouted angrily as she jumped out onto the planet where they had, as Billy euphemistically put it, made a forced landing in a battered Wolfzord. _Crashed _was much more accurate. For some reason this frustration was the last straw for her fraying temper. In someway's she felt she had preferred it when Skye hadn't been talking to anyone, because ever since he seemed to bounce back to his normal self, he had been trying to get her and Billy to talk over what was wrong. All the time.

They would start a normal conversation with him and she didn't know how he did it, but within five minutes she was starting to discuss feelings and what was wrong. When she realised what was happening she would just walk away, or shout. At the moment she tended to walk away because shouting seemed to actually hurt him now. Something to do with the fact that he had torn down all his blocks and defences to help the Chi'iten sing their Great Song. But shouting was warranted now!

"If we had been using Tigerzord instead of this flying scrapheap..." she growled and kicked WolfZord as if it had offended her deeply.

"Trini! Don't kick that! You'll damage the lateral stabiliser!" Billy shouted down at her from the cockpit.

Trini kicked it again. The metal fell off with a dull twisted clang

Billy was furious, his blue eyes blazing. Trini was sorry, but she refused to back down. She stared at him defiantly and then the argument began. 

"That is going to take me hours to repair!" Billy yelled out as he jumped out of the Zord

"Well if you had paid attention to me in the first place and had not tried to plough through that comet debris then we wouldn't be here in the first place!" Trini pointed out scoring herself a mental point.

"There was no way to predict that there would be dense matter in the comet tail." Billy flushed, it had been an error in judgement on his part, but he had been so mad that when Trini had argued with him it had just made him more coldly determined to go ahead and do it.

"Oh yeah? So how did I know? Woman's intuition - oh yes I forgot, I'm not as respectable as the 'little mermaid'." Trini retorted, and the argument took a very familiar turn.

"Cestria is a very intelligent and mature woman..." Billy said angrily. What was with this obsession with Cestria?

"I bet she is..." Trini replied darkly her emotions boiling.

"Unlike some people I could mention. " Billy snapped "What is this unreasoning hatred of Cestria all about anyway? She's a very pleasant, lovely person.."

Of course that didn't help matters at all.

Somehow all the arguments seemed to twist around to this point regardless of the outset. Skye was walking out of the Zord with his pack to have a quick look around and sense to see if there were any potential Ninjetti about and landed straight in the middle of the raging emotional conflict. He stumbled away from the damaged Zord clutching his head unseen by the others. Ever since he had torn down all his blocks to assist the Chi'iten, he was wide open to Billy and Trini's surprisingly volatile exchanges. To say he had a headache would be missing a perfect opportunity to describe it as a pounding migraine. As the violent emotions buffeted him ceaselessly he felt dizzy and sick with the pain and all he wanted was just to get away from the both of them. Half staggering, half running and semi-blinded with pain he ran away from his companions as swiftly as possible into the alien wilderness.

Billy muttered to himself as he supervised "Pup" and "Cub", Wolfzords own superzebedee's to reattach the twisted metal stabiliser. 

"If she would just _listen_..." he said aloud and then stopped remembering the scolding he had received from his Wolfspirit whilst fighting the Klaxal

__

"When you have something worth saying she will listen."

Hmmm.. Skye had been trying to get them to talk it through and it seemed that both of them would find an excuse to back away, do some emergency repairs just as he was approaching that crucial point where everything would come out. In fact, they now had enough control to block his attempts to link their minds unless they consented and every time he had tried they had shut him out. He wiped his hands on a cloth and stood back as Pup finished laser soldering the damaged part and looked around. Where was Skye anyway?

"Trini?" he called trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Yes?" she replied evenly, her voice betraying nothing.

"Have you seen Skye?" Billy asked. Trini reappeared around the side of the massive WolfZord, dressed in her now usual warm yellow gold, but her eyes were dark and cold towards him.

"I thought he was helping you?" She said quizzically arching an eyebrow.

Billy shook his head and frowned. "I haven't seen him since we were...discussing everything earlier on." He winced, and Trini's expression grew troubled.

"It..it was one of our worse. Do you think...?" Billy said getting concerned.

"He couldn't stand to be near us?" Trini finished, belatedly realising what their explosive argument would have done to their empathically sensitive friend. They might have well have thrown grenades at him. They both looked around them at the lush rich forest around them and tried to shift into their animal forms. It would not happen. They looked at each other mildly ashamed and instead set off into the forest on foot following the obvious trail the fleeing Star Ninjetti had made as he had stumbled through the greenery.

~*~

He had run a long way from them, but finally they found him on the shores of a beautiful still lake, lying on the grass. His eyes were closed and the gleaming orb of the Ma'rai sphere lying by his side ,the Ninjetti fire crawling within it still and a book fluttering open in the breeze. His white hair was wet as if he had been in the water caressing the shore beside him and Billy was troubled at the darkened rings around his eyes as he lay there unmoving. Usually he would have sensed their approach and awoken by now, however deep he was in sleep.

Exchanging glances of concern the two Ninjetti bent over their friend.

Billy touched his shoulder "Skye? Wake up Skye.." he said softly and receiving no response, shook him slightly. 

The artists blue eyes opened and it hurt the pair to see how he flinched away from them both, instinctively trying to shield himself from them.

"You okay Skye?" Trini asked gently helping him sit up. 

He seemed oddly dazed but said "er..yes...I think so. You stopped fighting yet?"

Billy nodded apologetically "I'm really sorry...." He began but much to his surprise was interrupted.

"Sorry doesn't cut it." Skye said in a calm even voice. "I cannot stand this anymore."

The two ninjetti were astonished; this was not like Skye at all. They began to wonder if something had happened to him whilst he had been alone.

"Skye? You feeling okay?" Trini asked cautiously, frowning.

"I feel fine. You two do not." He said bluntly. "I have tried and tried and tried to get you two to talk about this, if only to save me from headaches and pain, but you two have been so pigheaded about this it defies belief. And if it is not you two, it is your animal spirits - they may not be talking to you, but they are certainly are talking to me! With that and the dreams...well I just cannot stand it anymore."

Billy blinked in shock. This could not be Skye talking! He was subtle and sensitive, not blunt and outspoken.

"I have decided that I care about you both too much to let this go on." The artist said softly. "Both of you, drink from the lake." He ordered.

"Skye...you are not sounding like yourself..." the Wolf Ninjetti said tentatively "Maybe we should go back to WolfZord and..."

"Just because I stand up for myself there is suddenly something wrong with me?" Skye said, his blue grey eyes stony and determined. "I am not _allowed_ to be angry? Everyone else seems to manage it and no-one says anything, and yet just because I normally control my anger, when I let it show there is something wrong with me?"

Billy opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say. Trini seemed likewise affected by this outburst. "Why are you angry with us?" he asked finally.

"Because you go on hurting each other, over and over and there is no need!" Skye said explosively. "It is so obvious to me- just drink the water!"

Trini did not like this, she looked at Billy and they began to back away from Skye.

"I am not asking you to do anything dangerous!" Skye reassured with genuine sincerity.

Trini thought otherwise; if he was trying to exposed the whole letter incident then that was very dangerous to her, there would be no hiding from it and that would be the end of her and Billy completely! She could not allow that. She turned to run and Skye with a rueful grimace pulled on the Power of the Star crystal and gave them a psychokinetic shove. They both fell in the shallow water, as he had done when he had stumbled from the forest.

Billy shouted in alarm and then felt a warm relaxed glow pour through him, his inhibitions beginning to fade away under the influence of the strange water. He looked across at Trini, and she had a similar dreamy look on her face.

"So..." Skye called from the shore " Talk to each other! Sort this out - we can no longer go on tearing ourselves apart like this."

And strangely, the part of Billy that would have usually leapt into place and stopped him from going ahead no longer seemed to work.

"Why Trini?" he asked plaintively "Just tell me what I have done wrong, just tell me and I will try and put it right!"

Trini felt all her defences failing one by one " You don't need me. You don't love me Billy...." She said her heart breaking though her words seemed calm.

Billy was astonished and began to wade towards her through the water "What do you mean? Whatever gave you that idea?!"

Trini turned her eyes full of tears. There was no use in denying it any longer. "This did." And she pulled from a pocket the Letter that she kept with her at all times. It was wet and the ink had run from her dip in the lake, but by the way Billy's face paled and his expression became mortified she felt like her worst fears had been realised.

"I know you never wanted me on this trip, and that you have only pretended to have feelings towards me. I know you wanted to sort things out with Cestria and I ruined that...""she began to explain as tears began to trickle down her face.

"Oh Trini please..." Billy began unable to bear to see her cry "Please no, this is all my fault." He reached out to her and she pulled away. "Listen to me, I did an idiotically stupid thing..."

Trini shook her head. "You are a genius, Billy you don't _do_ stupid things."

"Trini!" he gave a trembling smile "No it just means I save all my stupidity up and do one incredibly ill conceived thing every now and then. This was one of those things!"

"There is nothing more to say Billy. The letter was very clear" Trini said trying to adopt a cool implacable demeanour and failing miserably "You didn't need me here and you can never say that you truly love me. That is all I need to know. I'm sorry I foisted myself upon this mission." She began to turn away from him.

"Trini, please...just listen for a moment." The wolf Ninjetti pleaded and that strange relaxed feeling swept over her again stopping her from leaving.

"Trini, I wrote that letter when I thought I was having to go into space alone and leave you for however long. I thought...I thought unfair that you try and remain faithful to me, that you deserved someone better, but I knew your sense of honour would keep you hanging on for me regardless of the fact I might be gone years and that I might never return. " He sighed. It had been a really bad idea. "I could not stand the thought of you suffering an unrequited love for years - having spent much of the time since you left for the Peace Conference like that. It was an attempt to protect you, nothing more..."

"Don't you realise how much it would hurt me?" Trini flared angrily.

" I thought that better the short pain of disappointment, than living with hurt of deserving someone better, but feeling obligated to tie yourself to... me. As soon as I saw you on Phaedos, the most welcome sight of my life, I resolved to destroy it." Billy explained "You were never meant to see it. I thought I had thrown it away."

"You did. I found it screwed up in the bottom of a toolbox when we were on Aquitar." Trini said.

"Trini, there was no truth in any of it, Cestria was just a plausible excuse; we do need you, you have saved our lives on countless occasions."

Trini turned and stared at him silently. "What about you? Do _you _need me?"

Billy was taken aback. "Of course I do!"

"You've never said so." Trini replied in a voice empty of hope.

"I must have done...haven't I?" Billy said searching his memory. That couldn't be right, he _must_ have said it as some point....

Skye shook his head watching from the shore. "You never have Billy." He whispered "Say it now...say it now!"

Billy took a deep breath, realising it would be too late for embarrassment if he failed now . "I need you Trini. I need you not just for the mission, not just for battles and quests, for the Power Rangers. I need you for me....I always have. Whatever you want from me Trini just tell me and I will make it happen."

Utter silence reigned over the lake.

"I never dared hope that you might feel the same." He said in a whisper of naked emotion. The late evening breeze ruffled his sandy hair as he stood heedless of his surroundings, of anything but the answer in her eyes.

"Say it Billy." Trini asked holding his gaze with her own. " Look into my eyes and say it here and now and I will know it is no lie." 

Their mutual hopes trembling fragile and delicate, spun across the long moment. In this place there could be no lies, only truths. And Billy, shorn of all the defences he had made all these years to stop him being vulnerable to the pain of lost love again made an astounding discovery. 

He looked up into dark midnight eyes and said with utter conviction, as if stating an immutable law of the universe, "Trini Kwan....I truly love you." 

The words rang out echoing across the lake and Trini looked surprised as if she had been positive he would not be able to say it. 

Her cold expression was abruptly replaced by a hesitant glorious smile.

"I love you Will." She said simply, and it seemed incredible that all that time of pain between them all could be eradicated with a few simple words. But then they had to be the right words, and the right actions. Emboldened, Billy strode through the warm water towards her, reached out for her and before he lost his nerve, kissed her tenderly upon the lips.

Suddenly with breathtaking rapidity final gasps of the evening light vanished and the stars shimmered in the perfect mirror of the lake. All around them starlight glittered in fragile threads of gossamer light whilst a gentle flickering breeze coaxed a song from the water that reached straight into their heart. A strange shimmering aurora stole against them, filling them both with an uninhibited sense of freedom.

"Go on." whispered Skye, finally finding his voice, realising the Ma'rai Spheres' description of this place as the holding Waters of Truth had more beauty and depth to it than he could have ever imagined.

Billy and Trini were mesmerised by the feelings within them and the beauty around them. It was like swimming in the wonder filled sky of the heavens. Trini slipped under the water and then rose up and in the stream of waters that cascaded from her night-ebony hair she appeared a goddess enveloped in a flowing cloak of stars. Billy was filled with awe that she wanted to be with him, that in all this glory, the only thing she wanted to see was him, the only thing she wanted to touch was him and...that in this lake of stars the brightest light of all was the joy shining in her intense dark eyes. She reached for him holding him close and whispered into his ear as they slipped further into the intimate privacy of the night-filled waters. "And I will always need you..."

On shore, silent and alone though intoxicated by the same breezes Skye watched as the two spiralled gently out of his sight, emanating enough joy and passion to make the Star Crystal glow of it's own accord. The breeze ruffled the pages of the book Kimberley had given him, which he had brought with him to the lake. They fell open at one of his favourite poems, and he did not need the glowing light of the Star Crystal to read the bittersweet words that were obviously not for him, for they were engraved on his heart. He said them silently to himself as he dizzily lay back on the grass,

__

Glorious is the moment we sit in the palace, you and I 

Two forms, two faces, but a single soul, you and I 

The flowers will blaze and bird cries shower us with immortality 

The moment we enter the garden, you and I 

All the stars of heaven will run out to gaze at us 

As we burn as the full moon itself, you and I 

The fire-winged birds of heaven will rage with envy 

In that place we laugh ecstatically, you and I 

What a miracle, you and I, entwined in the same nest 

What a miracle, you and I, one love, one lover, one Fire 

In this world and the next, in an ecstasy without end. 

This was their words, their time and their Truth, and for his part in making it obvious to them both Skye let a single tear of regret trickle down his cheek. Now it would always be them...and him, not just the three of them together. The same truth could be glorious for some and also painful for others. It was selfish of him to regret the passing of a friendship to something more intimate for them and he was glad for them.

Very glad for them and sorry for himself. With a sigh and the poem running through his mind over and over, Skye lay down on the grass on the shores of the Lake of Truth and let the darkness of the night sweep him away into sleep.

~*~

The sun rose over the lake as swiftly as night had arrived. Billy awoke, snuggled up next to Trini warm and content. He never wanted to move again, he decided he would quite happily lie there with Trini in his arms until the end of time....or at least until breakfast. 

"hmmmm.." Trini muttered contentedly stirring slightly. There was a polite cough above him and as he opened his eyes a heap of clothes was dumped on top of him.

"Thought you both might need something to wear..." said the white-haired artist with a wicked grin. "As you both seem to have inexplicably lost your apparel somewhere."

It was then Billy realised their state of undress and blushed fiercely. Skye raised an eyebrow .

"Little late for embarrassment Billy." He said and then gave a speculative look. "My, I don't think I've ever seen anyone blush with their whole body before."

"Skye!" Billy protested hurriedly pulling on the clothes.

"Just invoking my right as a friend to tease you mercilessly." He said laughing, dodging a thrown shoe. "Didn't you know? It's the Law I have to do it especially in situations like this!"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Billy mumbled, crimson now.

"Well you certainly seemed to know what it was all about last night!" Skye said, then tried to run away as Billy lunged after him "Okay, okay...I'll stop now."

"If you boys have quite finished..." Trini interrupted. She had somehow gone miraculously from naked to fully clothed without any intervening stages.

"I wish I knew how she did that." Billy said in mock awe. He was in fine form and could feel the presence of his wolfspirit suddenly stronger than ever.

**__**

Well Finally, it wolfspoke, and Billy with glee slipped into his wolf-form as he had been unable to do for a while. Trini watched him "change" and then in the blink of an eye, a great golden Tiger stalked after the wolf that was wagging its tail furiously in a most unwolflike manner.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Skye shouted as the boisterous game of tag threatened to bowl him over for nearly the tenth time.

Eventually the Tiger pinned the Wolf on it's back, and the Wolf retaliated by licking the Tigers nose until in a strange fit of tigersnorts becoming giggles, Trini shimmered into her human shape. 

"You cheat!" she accused laughing as Billy shifted back.

"Alls fair in _Love_ and war...." He replied smugly.

"I have missed being able to do that so much" Trini said sitting down next to him.

Billy leaned across and kissed her, realising after last night that succumbing to inhibition was more than a little hypocritical. Their spirit crystals appeared to glow in response as memories of the previous night began to rush through them both until they broke off the kiss when they heard an embarrassed cough. Skye was standing behind them and he was the one blushing furiously. Billy was confused until he saw the Star Crystal glittering brightly. 

"Sorry, Skye." Billy said with a grin but Trini kissed him once more to the mock horror of their friend.

"Aw guys, please!" the white-haired artist pleaded.

"That is for pushing us both in the lake." Trini replied "What exactly happened there anyway.?" It had been a strange, painful yet wonderful experience and in the light of day she found it hard to believe that they had said what they had said. She didn't regret it for a moment, but it still seemed peculiar.

Skye picked up the Ma'rai sphere, it's fire still gleaming visibly even in the bright sunlight.

"After I...er...had to get away from you two, I accidentally ran straight into the lake." He explained. "I felt that sensation and concerned that it might be dangerous I looked into the sphere for more information on this planet. It was known to the Ancient Ninjetti as a terrible and wonderful place - They called it Veras, or Truth." He swallowed a little as some of the histories had been frighteningly graphic in the result of some of the results of the effects of the waters of Veras. 

"The water on this planet has something in it that acts a little like a truth serum, removes all the obstacles in the mind baring the heart of the matter. It can be wonderful and enlightening, or heart-breaking and dangerous."

"How could it be dangerous? Surely the truth is a good thing?" Trini asked with a frown.

Skye laughed. "Says she who has been running from it for the past month or so...just imagine what it would have been like if you had declared your love to Billy, and he had not to you...what then?"

"That would not have happened." Billy said firmly

"Fine, okay...you seem very sure now. You were lucky, you received the glory of truth." Skye said heavily "But they used to used this place as a site for mediation and Treaty....and the pure truth spawned war after war...as the motives of each race were shorn of diplomacy. Eventually the Ninjetti declared it off-limits except in special cases."

Billy winced. It did make sense at that. He was immensely grateful for receiving what he had. But what if they hadn't crashed here? If they had gone on as they were?

**__**

Do you think that I would let that happen? his wolfspirit mindspoke. **_All I had to do was shut off your good sense for a moment and steer you through that comet tail.._**

You did what?! Billy queried.

**__**

Oh come on, it wasn't like you were using much of that good sense at the time anyway, The wolfspirit protested with a wolfish grin **_And the Tiger agreed that it was a good idea._**

Yes, we resolved our differences a long time ago, Purred the Tigerspirit in tones of great self-satisfaction. **_You humans seem to feel the need to over complicate things - obviously a talent of your kind._**

"Hmmm" Trini said "Well I didn't notice you doing anything to help much."

The golden tiger spirit gave the mental impression of drawing itself up. **_Excuse me? I nearly roared myself hoarse trying to be heard over your stormy emotions..._**

The wolfspirit was huffing in a peculiar form of wolfish laughter.

**__**

What? Asked the tigerspirit, it's tail tip lashing in irritation at the interruption.

**__**

Sorry, I was just laughing at the image of you roaring yourself into a horse. it replied sheepishly.

Billy and Trini groaned. 

"Want to go back to arguing again Trini?" Billy asked with a sigh.

"Might be worth it just to have some peace and quiet again." Trini replied drily "Is it my imagination or have they gotten worse since we last spoke to them?"

"Definitely worse." Billy responded and they both started laughing again.

Skye grinned again "Well whoever is responsible, Tiger, Wolf, Billy, Trini...I don't care." He announced. "It's just great to have us back working together again...no more black stares and dark look contests in WolfZord...and I guess that troublesome core processor regulator won't need quite so much immediate attention hmm?"

Trini and Billy coughed a little. "Were we that transparent?"

"Anymore transparent and I would be using you as glasses..." Skye said smirking. 

Billy sighed, unwilling to break this idyll but knowing it was necessary as duty called. 

"Well I guess we better be getting back to work yeah?" he said and the others nodded in agreement and they made their way back to the now repaired WolfZord to recommence their quest after this short, but immensely valuable interlude.

Billy looked back at the strange planet Veras as they swung away from its surface, contemplating what had happened with contented smile In some small measure the certainty he felt now about his feelings for Trini compensated him for the sacrifices he had been required to make. For all his past pain, he had at least been given a night swimming in the stars with his love and whatever was yet to come, however terrible and dark, he would always have that at the very core of himself. Forever.

### End

* * *

**__**

Author's Note: Another poem from Rumi there. Hope you liked it, and the fic!


	11. Nights' Swift Dragons

**__**

DISCLAIMER: Yes..it is still the case that Saban owns the Power Rangers. Sigh. But there are a fair few things in here that belong to me i.e stuff you do not recognise. This is the 11th in the Sun Goes Down series and it really does help if you have read some of the others.. Enjoy!

### Nights' Swift Dragons...  
by Peregrine

__

"Night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast"- A Midsummer Nights Dream

An afternoon in Angel Grove, and it was raining. Actually raining. Tommy Oliver, ex-Power Ranger, stood at the window watching the surprising phenomenon. He had been threatened with parental wrath ifhe did not clear some of the boxes of junk he had stored in the garage, and this seemed a good a time as any.

Ever since Kimberley's triumphant win at the Panglobals she had not let up from the idea that had inspired her routine. She wanted them all back together. So did he for that matter, but exactly how it was going to happen he did not know. Kim in fact had hatched a plan to speak to Kat and Tanya under the pretext of a shopping trip this very afternoon. By agreement he was meant to tackle the others, which would prove a little more difficult. 

As he half-heartedly sorted through boxes in the dim light and reluctantly consigned some things to an ever-increasing junk pile, he came across a large package addressed to him which had not been opened. The writing looked somewhat familiar but not immediately recognisable. When had this arrived? He had a dim memory of his parents mentioning something about a parcel whilst he was driving for his Uncle Frank and he had told them...that he would take a look the next time he was over. Damn, that had beenmonths ago! Curse his memory, and to think he had thought he was getting better.

Hurriedly he did his other chores so he could take a good look at the mysterious box in detail, his curiosity piqued. Finally, after some of the swiftest and most ruthless cleaning seen on the planet, Tommy sat down with the box in front of him. He tied back his long dark hair to stop it from falling in his eyes and, taking a key from his pocket, scored the tape so he could get into the contents easily. Inside were rolls of paper...no, they were sketches and paintings, and Tommy took a sharp breath. 

"Skye." He muttered in recognition of their distinctive style, an almost painful wave of nostalgia washing over him at the coinciding thought of Billy and Trini. They hadn't heard from him since, well, since that message just after they assumed the Turbo powers. It worried him more than he would like to admit. Throughout everything, that knowledge in the back of his head of the strange Ninjetti warning persisted like a nightmare that leapt into his thoughts when he least expected it. Before, they had had to stay and protect the Earth and they had done that, and the decision had been correct; but now, now they were all without the Power and had been for some time. It showed as well. Having been through it before, Tommy recognised the signs of Power withdrawal in the others. They had all tried to isolate themselves, bury themselves in their work and generally became depressed and irritable. Hesitantly Tommy began to unroll some of the sketches and then found an accompanying note near the top of the box.

__

Tommy,

You will receive this package not long after we have gone. Not long ago you allowed me to share the darkest parts of your past that you thought no-one else would understand. Now I return your trust; I show you my darkest visions of a future that have plagued me for a long, long time. Images from dreams I hoped were just nightmares, but more and more seem to be coming true. If we don't make it, Tommy, and as you will see, we may not, someone has to carry on and make sure that the Ninjetti stand against the Darkness Visible. I know I can trust you to do what you know is right with this information and the other gifts I have left. 

I hope I am wrong.

Skye.

Tommy unrolled sketch after sketch, some pencil or ink, others full colour canvases, his eyes widening in shock. This one...this was of Justin. Skye had never met Justin, so how had he managed to...and this one, of Rocky lying injured sprawled on the ground.

__

Oh dear God Skye, why didn't you say something? he thought to himself. Rocky had been turned into a wreck by the accident and the Powerloss - if he had only known before...Maybe he could have prevented it from happening...somehow.

A traitorous voice sounded inside his mind. _Exactly how long has this package been here? Has it been forgotten down here when it might have forewarned of the accident?_ Guilt welled up within him. He picked up another and nearly flinched. It showed Trini's face looking into a rising sun in such emotional pain that Tommy did not even want to think about what had caused it. There were more. Some glorious, some hideous, and ones that he hoped to all the Powers were just nightmare visions of the artist's mind. 

"We should have gone with you, Billy," he said aloud. "I should have been there..." He picked up another roll, and it was heavy. Two boxes slid out, one locked but the other openable. Tommy unrolled the sketch with it and adrenalin rushed as he began to frown in recognition

"Phaedos!" A picture of a group of them on Phaedos. Maybe it was one about their first trip. He took a closer look; no, there were too many of them in the picture - there was Kim, Adam, Rocky and himself - and there were the others. Jason, Justin, Kat, Tanya ... and Zack and Aisha! Zack and Aisha? Where was he going to find them? He rummaged around a little more and found another picture of Zack talking to Aisha in front of a familiar building. It took a while, but it came to him. 

"I don't believe it! Angel Grove University?!" Tommy said aloud. What was going on? Would the two ex-rangers have returned and not told anyone? He thought for a moment, and conceded he hadn't exactly made himself easy to get hold of recently; none of them had. That made what he had to do even more important -- and if Kim managed to get Tanya and Kat to agree to meet up, then they would now at least have something to discuss. Out of curiosity he cracked open the unlocked box and took a deep breath when he saw the five carved glittering crystals inside on light silver-looking chains. _Oh yeah, now it's really time to get things moving._

~*~

Kim, Tanya and Kat sat down at one of the convenient tables in the mall, resting their weary arms from carrying around anymore purchases. They sipped at their drinks in companionable silence for a while before Tanya said, "So, you going to tell us why you've really called us?"

Kim nearly choked on a mouthful. "Whatever gave you the idea that I was up to anything in particular?"

Kat smiled tiredly "We haven't been out together for months, Kim, and all of a sudden we've had calls from you all the time arranging to meet."

"It has been pretty obvious." Tanya affirmed.

Kim shook her head ruefully. "I guess subtlety didn't work. Let's face it, how many times can you guys be washing your hair or have to work on your latest project, huh?"

Kat and Tanya exchanged glances.

"Truth be told Kim, I don't feel much like seeing anyone" Tanya said heavily. "It's hard enough trying to get through to Adam at the moment."

"You don't even want to know about Rocky," Kat said darkly.

"This is exactly what I wanted to see you about," Kim replied forcefully. She leaned closer. "Power Withdrawal...you are all undergoing it. I've experienced it before - so has Tommy, for that matter, and let's just say he has been no picnic to live with since you all passed on the Turbo Powers. Let me guess...you are all irritable, depressed, feel useless, exhausted, don't want to see anyone, don't want to speak, don't want to get up in the morning?"

Her two friends were staring at her in shock "Did you just take a look at my journal?" Kat asked aghast.

Kim shook her head in mild amusement "No, but I remember it well. The point is that we need to be together. Ever since the Panglobals...I have felt this need to get everyone back together." She finished with a rush.

There, that was the bit that she thought they might choke on. But to her surprise they nodded in unison. 

"I could see that." Tanya said sagely, nodding slightly.

Kat nodded. "If I could put across in my dancing what you did then...well..." she said.

Kim was relieved. "Tommy and I are trying to get everyone back together... has anyone spoken to Jason recently?" 

There were two reluctant shakes of their heads. "I think ...I think Billy's father might be able to get hold of him." Tanya contributed, shrugging slightly.

Kim nodded. "Okay, I'll get hold of him," she said decisively. "I want you guys to get Adam and Rocky to Tommy's tomorrow night ...come hell or high water." 

"Er, Kim, I don't know..." Kat began, looking troubled. 

"Please Kat," Kim said. "This is more than just a little important." She wasn't sure if she could exactly explain _how_ important it appeared to be to her. She fixed her fellow ex-pink ranger with a determined gaze.

Eventually the ex-Pink Turbo Ranger sighed. "Okay, I'll do it, somehow." 

"Great." Kim said with a sigh of relief. Time was running out. She didn't know how she knew that, but time was definitely running out.

~*~

__

A dark claw across his vision, a feeling of profound danger, glowing golden eyes, nighteyes of an Owl -- Come now, fly fast, come alone, come now, the pattern, the pattern, come now, come alone, come now...

Skye gasped and shot awake from another nightmare vision, the same one. Over and over for the last four days, whenever he closed his eyes, the same thing happened. His mind filled with burning desperate images that would not let him rest, waking him more and more frequently as time went on. He tried to shake it off, but the dream images left him with a profound feeling of disturbance that lingered through the waking hours, making his mind feel raw and vulnerable. He swung out of bed, not wanting to go back to sleep again, and made his way up to the cockpit of Wolfzord where Billy was intently reading a book, with his feet up on a console. The Star Ninjetti entered without a word and sat down, just wanting to clear the images from his mind.

Billy blinked in surprise and looked up at the Star Ninjetti. "Skye, you only went to lie down an hour ago!" 

Skye shrugged. "I can't sleep." The dark rings around his eyes stood testament to his words. He looked like he was exhausted and yet here he was awake...again.

"But you put in a 20 hour day yesterday of constant scanning of the sector ahead." Billy said with concern. He had been unsure why the Star Ninjetti had been pushing himself so hard, but maybe if he wasn't sleeping, he was trying to tire himself out. Either that or another, longer standing problem. "I thought you had stopped having the dreams?" Billy asked, putting the book down.

Skye shook his head. "I have never stopped having the dreams and normally I can live with them," he said quietly. "But this one will not let me sleep!" There was the sound of light footsteps behind them.

"Can you two keep it down?" Trini said, yawning as she came in, brushing her dark ebony hair back. "Skye? Aren't you meant to be asleep? I told you what I would do if you didn't get a proper rest after the past week we've been through..."

Billy mock-shuddered. "Careful, Skye...you're in trouble now..." 

Skye gave a tired grin "Okay, fine! I swear I will go back to sleep and stay there for 8 hours minimum."

"Good!" Trini said triumphantly. "Now go!" she gestured imperiously, and Billy smiled quietly as Skye adopted a hangdog demeanour and began to trudge out of the cockpit. 

Skye turned to say one last retort when...

__

Moons over the temple, a dark claw across his vision, a feeling of profound danger, eyes, gold eyes burning, summoning, the wing of a white owl. Come now, come fast come, alone, the pattern, the pattern will be lost, come...come NOW!!

Billy and Trini watched as their friend froze mid step and then winced as the final deafening demand reverberated through the Star Crystal into their spirit crystals and from there into their own heads.

"What the..." Billy began as Skye blinked and just sat down, looking dazed.

"I have to go..." the Star Ninjetti said finally. He looked at Trini. "I need to borrow TigerZord, I have to go...I have to go NOW!"

"Wait a moment, wait a moment" Billy said in a calming voice. "What, where...when?"

"I don't know," Skye said helplessly, just in the grip of a feeling that was tugging him inexorably away from this place. "But I have to go...Now...I must go now...time is running out!"

*He must go to the Owl Spirit* Billy's wolfspirit contributed from within Billy's mind. 

"To Dulcea?" Billy questioned aloud and saw a dawning recognition in both Trini's and Skye's expressions.

"Of course! Phaedos! Yes," Skye said, relieved. One part of the mystery solved. "I have to go there." 

Billy and Trini exchanged worried glances. "Are you sure? We would be losing time on our mission," Trini asked delicately. If time were so short surely they should focus on the really important task of swelling their ranks.

*You misunderstand young Tiger.* her Tiger spirit said. *He must go alone, you and the Wolfcub must continue. He will rejoin with you when his purpose there is complete.*

"But..." Trini protested.

*If the Owl needs him on Phaedos, then he must go, but there is no need to imperil our search. That must continue.* the Wolf spirit said firmly.

"I have scanned most of the sector ahead." Skye said, burning to leave now he had a goal. "I have marked the planets with potential Ninjetti that I have sensed. Please, I need to go...I will have no rest until this is done!"

Billy was struggling with the thought of them splitting up even temporarily. Despite the assurances from the Animal spirits it still seemed wrong somehow. "I don't like this, Skye" he said slowly.

"I never said I liked it," Skye replied forcefully, "but if I don't do it, I'm going to go mad. You saw it, the summons is coming through even when I am awake. That's just too dangerous for all of us..and you both know that!" For once he turned the well-worn and familiar argument of him being a comparative liability physically against them.

Billy sighed. "Fine. Fine. Trini, if you program TigerZord to take him directly to Phaedos ... and for the return journey I will rig a homing beacon in Wolfzord." They both knew that Tigerzord was the most heavily armoured of the two Zords and would protect Skye more than Wolfzord, should something go wrong.

In a surprisingly short period of time, Skye was ready to leave. He looked at his friends' grim faces and smiled "Relax! Everything will be fine. It's probably nothing much," he said lightly.

"You take care," Trini said, giving him a warm hug. Much to his surprise, Billy did likewise, though he remained silent.

Skye flushed a little and then paused just before teleporting. "Just think what mischief you two could get up to whilst I am not around," he said with a wide, knowing grin. "Just think of it as an impromptu honeymoon!"

And before they could respond, he teleported away.

~*~

"Dark Spectre, Emperor of the known universe," fawned Divatox . "The first representatives of the One have been sighted entering the Galactic rim."

Dark Spectre's magma lines began to glow brightly illuminating the dimly lit throne room. "I wish to speak to them," he rumbled eagerly. "I wish them to know of our wholehearted support and carry our regards to the Darkness Visible." 

Dark Spectre was playing a dangerous game. He was speaking for other ears than that of the space pirate before him.

"I will make sure that one of our ships goes forth to meet them." Divatox replied, stressing the "our". She had managed to subtly slide up the ranks into Dark Spectre's favour and she was doing everything to reinforce that position. There were three blurs of movement in the room.

"That will not be necessary," an alien voice said from the shadows. Three shrouded alien figures appeared to shimmer into visibility before their eyes.

"Guards!" Divatox shouted in alarm, her hand going immediately to her laser pistol.

"Hold, Divatox." Dark Spectre rumbled. He had been correct then. They had already arrived. He had not become the undisputed leader of the Evil forces of the galaxy without having some sort of talent for reading situations. "Emissaries of the Darkness Visible, I presume?" he inquired.

Divatox took a hurried intake of breath. Looking at the figures in more detail, they were certainly impressive. A strangely beautiful race, but totally unfamiliar to her, except maybe from stories and legends. They looked like they should be reptilian, with elegant sculpted features that reminded her of a refined version of those disgusting Drakin, but they were furred rather than scaled, and their imposing crests of swept-back horns rose like crowns over a cascading mane of hair.

"We are of the Nid-hi," one of the creatures said in a sweet tone. "We are the children of the One, we are his Chosen. The One has devoted aeons to our race to lead us from perpetual night to our destiny."

"We are the Masters of the Outer Darkness," said another, its eyes glittering even in the darkened room. "Now it is time to extend that mastery into the heart of the stars."

"Welcome are the Nid-hi. Dark Spectre, keeper of the powers of Darkness within this Galaxy, stands ready to assist as required." the magma lord said humbly.

Divatox could not believe what she was hearing.

"Dark Spectre! What are you doing...?" she challenged. "These are mere lackeys to the One...you need not bow and scrape to the likes of them!"

"Silence, Divatox!" Dark Spectre snapped. The Nid-hi fixed her with a cold implacable gaze. A chill seemed to sweep the room and Divatox shivered. A horrifying presence began to steal over her. Something was watching her, scrutinising her, and a terrible fear of not being useful enough swept over her. Before she knew it, she had dropped to her knees babbling, "Pleaseohplease...let me show you I can help you, let me do something, anything -- only let me do something..! Please...please!"

Dark Spectre laughed. The One had obviously taught the Nid- hi much of the ways of the Spirit Power. 

"You are wise, Dark Spectre," the tallest Nid-hi stated, watching the grovelling space pirate with a certain degree of distaste. "Of all who have approached the Emissaries of the One, you have not tried to bargain for Power, you have placed yourself within its Will and not haggled for benefits. The One needs a Wise leader until the arrival - you will be that Leader."

Dark Spectre bowed his head and exulted quietly. He had been right then. That tiny passage in the Ancient texts ..._Those that embrace the power of night in humility will receive the powers of darkness in full measure_... had shown him the way. In their overweening pride, Master Vile, Lord Zedd and all the others had tried to usurp his rightful place by trying to impress the Nid-hi with their power ... and in doing so robbed themselves of opportunity. He, on the other hand, had humbled himself to receive the powers of darkness. Then...when those powers were his... would they see about bowing and scraping.

"I am honoured to be of service," he said, inclining his head. "May I ask when the One will be with us?" 

"Not for some time," admitted the Nid-hi. "The One stays within the heart of our race, travelling slowly but inexorably towards this Haven of Stars. We have been sent to prepare. There is much to be done before that time. All must be ready for when the Darkness Visible comes forth."

"All you need do is ask." Dark Spectre rumbled, an anticipatory thrill running through his molten lava-filled veins. He had no intention of treating the One like a God as these Nid-hi did but even so he could recognise and appreciate the type of power that would convince such a strong race of its Divinity. "Please...describe what it is that you plan to do."

The Nid-hi explained their mission and the means by which they hoped to accomplish it. There was an astonished silence and Divatox finally said in an incredulous tone, "You can do this?!"

The sculpted elegant draconic features regarded her briefly. "We entered here undetected, did we not? Do they all have guards skilled in the Khi-han? Spirit-sensing? No, we thought not. Besides, those they watch over will be very busy dealing with surprise attacks - your part of the bargain."

"Besides," the tallest Nid-hi said, "You know that we have already accomplished this once. This is fact. Why should it fail?"

"That was you three? On Eltare?" Divatox asked sceptically. How could so few of them triumph where the combined forces of the United Alliance of Evil had failed for so long?.

The smallest Nid-hi threw back her hood, revealing delicate silver-white features and a gold-tinged mane that spilled out over her dark cloak. Even being of another race, Dark Spectre could appreciate her outstanding beauty. 

"That was me alone," she said melodiously. "It only required one of us to seize the Enemy of Order." Her liquid ebony eyes gleamed and shimmered with purple highlights as she watched him intently. Dark Spectre nodded in acquiescence, acknowledging that the United Alliance of Evil would throw their lot in with the Nid-hi with such an outstanding accomplishment attributable to them.

The audacity of the plan was frightening, and the even more astonishing thing was that it probably would work incredibly successfully. Divatox did not know what to say. All this time the various villains of the Galaxy had plotted and schemed and they had made headway, yes, but now in a moment you could feel the tide turning completely in their direction. She was rendered speechless.

That silence was broken by a low rumbling laugh as Dark Spectre, with delighted Evil mirth, filled the hall with his appreciation for the diabolical plan.

~*~

"Please, Rocky, it is important!" Kat pleaded for the umpteenth time.

"I have a late class, and I might be too tired to make it," Rocky said as if he hadn't been wriggling around like a worm trying to get off of a hook for the past hour.

Kat's crystal blue eyes flashed dangerously. "Rocky deSantos, don't you DARE give me that!" she said with a dangerous edge. "This time last week you were up until four in the morning on that computer after that class." 

Rocky sighed and sat down, his back cramping a little. "Kat please...I just don't want to go," he said flatly. What more was there to say? He didn't want to go to an ex-ranger reunion even if they were all Powerless now. It still didn't change how he felt.

She crossed her arms and stared at him resolutely. The pressure of the silence weighed on him like a lead weight. Damn it all, ever since she had learned that little trick he had rarely gotten away with anything. He wondered if Adam had let it slip to her.

"I don't want to see Tommy and Jason...or any of the others. They remind me of what I used to be like." He looked away, embarrassed at the tightening emotion that seemed to be burning in his throat, threatening to make his voice crack with self-pity. 

Kat took his hand "Rocky...Rocky, look at me," she said softly.

Reluctantly he did so, glancing into those crystal blue eyes and knew he had probably lost the argument there and then.. "Rocky, have I forced you to do anything that you have not wanted to over the past year?" He shook his head. No, now he came to think of it, she hadn't. 

"Well, if I have to drag you through the streets on a chain, I will get you there tonight...THAT is how important I feel this is....!" Kat said, her voice ringing with sincerity. "If you won't do it for yourself, then for once do it for me." She fixed him with that gaze and hopeful smile that he had no defence against, and he groaned.

"Fine. Fine, okay, I will go!" he said explosively. "Though I won't enjoy it one bit."

Kat kissed him softly and said with a sad smile, "You just have to go, enjoying yourself is optional!."

~*~

Tommy paced nervously. "What time did you say they were getting here?" 

"Around seven," Kim replied, watching him stalk back and forth. "Tommy, just relax...they are our friends! We know them." 

Tommy fiddled with his long hair irritably. "I know, I know, but I haven't seen them in so long...and I have the strangest feeling about this." _In fact, if I didn't know better I would say I felt like I used to just before we morphed and went into battle,_ he thought to himself.

Kim nodded; she felt it too, a burning anticipation particularly since she had come back a couple of days previously and found Tommy pouring over the myriad sketches he had discovered. The sketches were lying out on the lounge floor where they had cleared some room, and the two ex-rangers hoped that the others would be able to help piece them together.

"Doesn't it seem just slightly odd that Aisha and Zack have both come back here, right now?" Kim mused. "Coincidence?...Not!" she said, sounding like she was a good six or seven years younger than she actually was.

"What else could it be?" Tommy said, checking the window again, pausing as he saw a car pull up. Jason! And he had given a lift to Adam and Tanya by the looks of it. Right. Time to get things moving.

Kim shrugged. "I don't know...just seems like there is some sort of pattern," she said, wondering if it had anything to do with Skye. The last time she had felt like this was when he had tried to explain why he thought saving her had been important enough to risk everything because without her, the pattern would be lost.

"Well, maybe we can discuss it later..." Tommy said, nearly bounding to the door in his eagerness to see his friends. "They are starting to arrive!"

Within half an hour of each other all the ex-rangers had congregated at Tommy's house, until the place was abuzz with a muted sense of expectancy. Tommy looked around at them all before standing up to set things going. 

"Guys...guys!" he raised his voice and they quieted down. He grinned as he took in the sight of them all there; Rocky and Kat, Tanya and Adam, Jason, Justin, Zack and Aisha ... and of course Kim. "Guys, it's great to see you all. I guess word might have filtered through that we've all been undergoing Power Withdrawal, so we haven't been the best company in the world recently, and it is a shame that I actually needed a reason to get you all here like this...but we do _have_ a reason." 

Kim then got up and continued. "I think only Justin did not know Billy and Trini," she began.

"But I've heard all about him!" Justin chipped in. 

" But I am not sure if Zack and Aisha know the full story behind why they are not here with us." Kim continued. She gave them a brief synopsis of the events leading to Billy and Trini going into Space. 

"Also, Skye went with them. Fewer of you know him, but he is an artist and has some...unique talents." Kim said, setting the scene for Tommy's revelation. 

"I discovered this package that he sent me before he left," Tommy said. He indicated the vast array of sketches all over the room. "We need your help to piece together what we have to do, and what has happened and what could happen." 

Some of the ex-Rangers looked astonished as they glanced around at the pictures. Not at the remarkable quality, but at the content, images seemingly stolen from their lives when they knew that the artist had not been around to witness them or even be told about them.

"Like I said, a unique talent," Tommy said, picking up a picture of him driving a race car at speed.

Aisha stepped forward, picking up a picture with a faintly trembling hand. "This...this is my village, the view across the Veldt in the morning...but...I've never even MET this Skye!" 

" I know, Aisha...I know," Kim said. Tommy picked up one of Kim glowing like a star dressed in white with an ecstatic look on her face "I know what this one is now...I've seen it happen."

"The Panglobals." they all chorused and laughed at Kim's discomfiture. 

"Well it could have been last Saturday when we... hey!" Tommy ducked as Kim, blushing, threw a cushion at him to shut him up, and the group around them chuckled.

"Anyway, you get the idea...we need to eliminate pictures that have occurred and see what we are meant to do in the future. If there is one thing we are both certain of is that there is something we must do in the future," Tommy finished, and the ex-rangers pored over the various sketches and pictures laying them out as if they were all trying to do an enormous jig-saw puzzle. 

A surprising quantity of pictures proved to have some personal significance to them all, and at the picture of the destroyed Power Chamber, Justin had to explain to them all what had happened and where the others had gone. "But, the Power Chamber has been rebuilt," he finished with a heavy sigh. "Dimitria is still there at the moment, though since Zordon was abducted from Eltare..."

There was a communal explosion of outrage around the room 

"Zordon? Abducted?!" Jason said, clenching his fists unconsciously. 

Justin nodded miserably. "The last I heard, yes...Carlos, T.J, Cassie and Ashley are looking for him...but they don't know who took him or where he is being held.

Jason paced up and down, nearly crumpling the sketches in his anxiety. "We have to do something about this!" The others agreed. Zordon had been a major part of their lives for years, they couldn't just forget about him.

Tommy picked up the picture of Phaedos and held it up. "I think this is the answer. Those of us who were Ninjetti recognise this place...Phaedos, where we sought the Great Power. Skye drew us there...all of us here. He drew many pictures of Phaedos...in fact Billy got to know him because he and Adam went to an exhibition and found themselves staring at pictures of what had happened when we first went there." Adam nodded. 

Tommy looked around at them all meeting their eyes one by one. "You've seen how many of the things that he drew came to pass? What do you think?"

There was a murmur of agreement around the room from all except Rocky who had remained unusually quiet throughout the whole discussion.

"Getting to Phaedos wasn't easy, not like Zord teleporting," Aisha said. "How do you expect us to get there, and what do we do when we are there?"

"As I recall..." Adam mused, "it required a burst of energy from the Power Chamber, but if the Power Chamber has been destroyed..."

Justin bounced up. "No, no..it's been rebuilt! I still have local teleport access," he said excitedly. "I can get us all in if I go up and explain things to Dimitria. After all ... you all have been Rangers, after all." The young teenager's enthusiasm was infectious, and everyone perked up.

"Then Justin, if you can arrange for Dimitria to teleport us to Phaedos tomorrow," Tommy said. "By then we will have been able to have come up with some sort of cover story to explain an absence of a couple of days, maybe. Then we can find out what our place in this is going to be!"

Dimitria had been surprisingly agreeable about the whole thing, and the large group stood assembled in the latest version of the Power Chamber, preparing for their long trip. Rocky shook his head. He couldn't go and he knew it. He had gone along with the others up to now, getting his hopes up, but it was time for a reality check. He was injured and a liability. His back could go into spasm at any time, and what would that do to them in the middle of a fight? He looked at Kat, smiling and laughing with Aisha, and sighed. There was no good time to do this.

He stepped away from the others, as they stood poised to teleport.

"Rocky?" Kat queried, sounding alarmed.

"I'm sorry, but I can't go with you all." He said it heavily, depression clouding his tones. More than anything in the world he wanted to, but he was incredibly afraid that because of him something would happen to some of them, or worst of all, to Kat.

"Rocky, man...what are you talking about?" Jason asked, stepping forward as well.

"My back," he said simply. "I can't take a Power when I am injured. That's all there is to it."

The look of consternation on their faces was pleasing in some ways, as it meant that they had forgotten enough not to pity him as he feared that they would. But the fact remained, he wasn't going anywhere.

"Rocky, please..!" Kat pleaded. "Just come with us...for me!"

Rocky turned away stiffly. "Don't you see, Kat? It is for you that I have to stay behind. Has an injured person ever been able to assume the Powers, Dimitria?" he asked, raising his voice.

The Inquirian remained silent for a long moment. "It would be foolish to consider the fact that none have before as complete proof, would it not?"

"That is a close to a definite answer as you are going to get," Rocky said. "Now go...all of you."

There was a chorus of refusals, and Rocky strode over to a console, turned and said abruptly "Good Luck" ... and pressed the teleport activation and the Power chamber was echoingly empty once again. Rocky leant over the console, his back to Dimitria, his shoulders heaving silently.

"Are you alright, Rocky?" asked the Inquirian finally.

"Yes...yes...just my back spasming," he lied, wiping across his eyes with the back of his hand. "It tends to get the better of me when I least expect it."

~*~

Dulcea was weary beyond belief. Continual testing, looping the time over and over, pulling the ones out who failed, churning out Ninjetti spirit warriors as the candidates flooded in from the worlds that her proteges visited. They appeared to be working hard...the sheer quantity of people she had processed, beings of all races ... it surprised even her. But however she twisted it and looped it and tied it up in knots, time was running away with her, and not all who quested made it through. She sighed as she felt the arrival of ANOTHER group...a large group at that. She made her way to the beachhead.

"Hold! Do you seek the Great Power!?" she challenged.

"Dulcea!" called Tommy loudly from down below her. "It's us!". 

She took a closer look and then somersaulted down gracefully. "By all the Powers! A pleasant surprise." She looked them all over appraisingly. "Where is Rocky, the Red Ape?" she asked, concerned. 

Kat flushed. "He...he wouldn't come because of his injury," she explained.

"He is Ninjetti, he must come! Everyone of us is needed! If he comes not of his own accord, then he will be summoned," Dulcea said assertively. "But in the meantime....I see new candidates amongst you. Stand forward..."

Jason stepped forward with the others, seeking her emerald green eyes, feeling something indescribable as he met her gaze. He watched her, his mouth going dry at the mere sight of her walking up and down their line. She appraised the others, seeming to know about their Ranger histories and nodded after each one.

She hesitated before him, frowning slightly, and placed a hand loosely on his shoulder. "Jason of Earth, I have met you before and you were holding the Gold Powers - I see that you managed not to be ripped apart by the three-fold nature of that Power?"

"Not quite, Dulcea" Jason replied, feeling an unaccountable blush lurking. "I have recovered now." He didn't want to sound like he was unworthy of questing for the Great Power.

"This is good, you are strong," Dulcea said formally, but her touch seemed to linger and her eyes met his for the briefest moment and Jason knew he was lost to them forever. In just one moment everything had changed. Dulcea turned, taking a deep steadying breath before announcing, "Come...follow me to the Temple."

Kim nudged Tommy as they followed the Master Warrior of the Ninjetti up to the plateau. Tommy turned to her and frowned and mouthed a silent "what?" Kim nodded her head towards Jason and then flicked her eyes over towards Dulcea. Tommy frowned, shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Kim sighed heavily. Men could be so blind sometimes. Aisha looked across at her, nodded and winked and then the four girls of the group burst into broad smiles as they caught each other's eyes. Why the men never saw it she didn't know...ah well, this could be interesting -- VERY interesting indeed.

~*~

Dulcea made those already Ninjetti stand outside of the immediate confines of the spirit fire she had built and Jason, Zack, Justin, Kat and Tanya stood before it much as had the others all that time ago. It brought back poignant memories for all of the others as they watched that incredibly moving ceremony where their animal spirits revealed themselves to them and pronounced them worthy of questing for the Great Power.

Eventually, Dulcea walked before them and took out a hand full of the spirit dust and mentally called the Animal Spirits to attend and claim their own.

"In each of us is an animal spirit buried deep in our hearts," she said. "For those who can face themselves, they will reveal their hidden secrets. Look closely within and let your animal spirit come forth." She threw the handful of spirit dust upon the fire and it flared with the special energy that made it possible for the animal spirits to make their wishes known. The fire died down and Dulcea smiled as all of them stood before her dazed and excited by their transformation.

"Justin, you are the Blue Dolphin, intelligent and playful," she said, touching the leaping dolphin insignia. The youngest Ninjetti grinned delightedly as she moved onto Kat, dressed once more in pink with the image of a sprinting feline on her gold insignia.

"Kat, you are the Pink Cheetah, swift and loyal." Kat gave a dazzling smile.

The Master Warrior moved along to Zack who was curiously trying to work out what his animal spirit was from the gold emblem. She smiled. "Zack, you are the Black Mongoose, fluid and deadly," and nearly laughed at his comical look of relief.

"Thought I was a rat for a moment," he said, flashing a grin. Dulcea moved along down the line, touching Tanya's emblem depicting an elegant strong antelope with graceful swept back horns.

"Tanya, you are the Yellow Oryx , powerful and fierce," she said and moved along finally to Jason. Immediately as she touched the emblem, her owl spirit began to trill within her. She had been right, his animal spirit had been waiting all that time to show itself.

"Jason...you are the Red Lion, courageous and strong." She said it quietly, her hand resting on the Lionspirit insignia as if reluctant to let it go.

Dulcea looked away, her mind whirling. Seldom, certainly not in the past few millennia, had she been so affected by the mere sight or...touch of someone. That part of her life had died long ago, before she became the first Warrior of Phaedos when Kerrin had been killed. Maybe that was it. Kerrin had been a Black Lion Ninjetti, maybe this new Lion Spirit Chosen just reminded him of her long dead love. There was no room in her life for love, she had the Duty of being the guardian of Phaedos ... which was more vital than any vague and probably unreciprocated feelings. This was just not appropriate, think of the age difference for a start! No, the whole thing was ridiculous...and Jason was a completely different person from Kerrin. Kerrin had the introspectiveness and quietness of the Black, whereas Jason had the fire and warmth of the Red and the harmony and courage of the Gold. Her mind lingered uncertainly as she finally removed her hand and turned away, steadying her state of mind.

"Now, you must prepare for your Quest." She took out the boxes that Tommy had brought with him and opened the locked one. She took out the first Spirit crystal, carved with the image of a lion and held it up as it caught the light from the fire, blazing with red and gold highlights. She went back to Jason and slipped the crystal over his head, acutely aware of his close proximity and his presence. Remaining outwardly calm as her emotions churned inside, she repeated the process with the other Ninjetti until they had all received their own Spirit Crystal.

"You five will become Spirit Warriors if you gain the Great Power. The transformation will take place automatically, but first you have to prove yourself worthy,"she informed them in a serious tone. She then looked around to the others who were standing, watching the familiar process.

"Those of you who have undergone the quest will need to meditate to find your own joining to the Spirit Warrior Powers. Come forth into the circle and receive your own Spirit Crystals."

Tommy, Kim, Adam and Aisha stepped forward and were each presented with their own Crystal, and Dulcea stood dangling the last crystal from her hand, the tiny carved Red Ape glittering as it spun and twisted from the chain. Her expression became determined.

"Now to settle this." She walked to the fire and made a strange gesture, spoke a command in an unfamiliar language and the image of Dimitria appeared.

"What can I do for you, First Warrior of the Ninjetti?" the veiled Inquirian asked.

"Rocky of Earth, the Red Ape Ninjetti - I wish him sent here immediately," Dulcea said firmly.

"Is it not against our ways to force someone against their will?" Dimitria responded evasively.

"He is Ninjetti, I invoke the Right as the Guardian of the Great Power to bring him to Phaedos." Dulcea pointed out tersely. She had no time for the questioning games of this young mentor.

"Did you not lose your claim on him when time became reversed?" Dimitria pointed out.

"No....and you well know that. The Great Power is a power of the Spirit, and Time does not rule the Spirit, the Spirit rules Time. Now send him to me," Dulcea demanded.

"If this is truly your will?" Dimitria asked finally.

"It is."

Dimitria gestured and then vanished, and a few minutes later, Rocky tumbled into a heap before them.

Dulcea took one look at the ex-Zeo Ranger and said shortly "You are late," before continuing with her address. "Time is short. Those Questing for the Great Power must battle their way to the Monolith to receive it and prove their worthiness to hold it. You will leave soon. Those who have already been judged worthy, will reactivate their animal spirits and awaken the dormant Ninjetti Power by bonding with their Spirit Crystals. This you will begin now." He voice brooked no contradiction.

Rocky stood with a stern expression on his face, having recovered his composure, and shook his head. "I cannot." He said flatly.

Dulcea looked swiftly at Jason. For some reason she felt that they were under pressure of time and that it might already have slipped through their grasp. She had to get the Quests under way as soon as possible. She addressed the Red Lion Ninjetti who was looking like he was about to get involved in the upcoming argument. "We will resolve this issue, waste no more time in waiting." 

Jason nodded in response and automatically began to call the others together, slipping very neatly back into the role of leader. "C'mon then guys, that Monolith isn't going anywhere!" he encouraged them.

Dulcea watched them turn to leave and said suddenly "Jason..!" He turned and looked over his shoulder.

"May the Power protect you..all." she called out. 

He gave a brisk nod and a half smile and the team heading into the denseness of the wild and savage Neola forest.

~*~

A grey clad figure walked up to the Temple unnoticed as the group of Questing Ninjetti departed. Rocky's teammates and friends stood around him, trying to persuade him to join them and reclaim the Great Power.

"No! I can't!" Rocky nearly shouted again "Can't you see that? I'm hurt, I can't fight, I am liability and a cripple!" His voice held an edge of bitterness.

Tommy gripped his friend's shoulder "Please, just try it!" he pleaded. It was his responsibility to keep the team together, what sort of job was he doing if he couldn't persuade one of them to take the Power?

"And what will that prove? How much of an idiot I am? How useless I am?" Rocky said in despair. "You have all felt that way during Power Withdrawal...well, the difference is that I know it is actually true!" He shook off Tommy's hand and turned and walked away from them, holding his back stiff and rigid..

"Rocky!" Adam called out after his friend, hurt by his rejection "There is no reason for you to go!"

"Do you want me to get you hurt by being unable to fight? By having a back spasm in a battle and you dying? Do you? You know what that feels like, Adam...you told me!" Rocky shot back at him and Adam flinched, reliving the moment when a monster had thrust a laser spear through Billy because **_he_** had been incapacitated. He had eventually told Rocky all about it, and now it seemed it was more **_that_** fear than anything that was crippling him. Adam had no answer for his question. How could he argue when it seemed that Rocky was trying to protect them all?

"Just leave me alone!" Rocky shouted, sounding like a stranger to them, turning and fleeing from them all. He disappeared into the Sacred Heart of the Temple, out of their view.

Unnoticed, the grey figure with a peculiar halting stride silently followed the ex-ranger into that familiar stone circle. Dulcea paused, sensing the presence of a ninjetti mindtouch and gave an imperceptible nod to herself.

"I should go after him," Adam said, his dark eyes following the direction his friend had gone.

Aisha also stepped forward. "I will." They had known him the longest, despite the timeline alterations.

"None of you will" Dulcea said firmly. "It will be taken care of. It is more important that you become Spirit Warriors right now. You will sit around the Summoning Fire and the Animal Spirits will come and make their wishes known." She gestured imperiously for them to sit, and with worried looks on their faces they obeyed. Aisha in particular kept glancing behind her.

Dulcea abruptly thumped her Singing Staff on the stone floor of the temple. "Enough! I give you my word that he is being dealt with, and Spirits willing, will be returned to us. Now focus, all of you. This is vitally important!" Dulcea's voice softened. "This will be the time where you accept what role you will play in the Darkness to come. The choice may seem easy and obvious, but consider this...you fight for more than just Earth if you accept the Path of the Spirit Warrior. Those that hold the Power have the responsibility to use that Power for the good of all. There is no telling what might be asked of you. Consider carefully for there can be no doubt."

Obediently they followed her instructions and began to meditate upon the Summoning Fire until time seemed to slow and vanish, and each felt to be alone with themselves and the Fire and the imminent return of their Animal Spirit.

__

My Daughter.... The Crane spirit soared from within the fire to join Kimberly. _This is the moment where you chose your Path. Whether you fight and fly against the Darkness Visible or you stand as The Sun Goes_ _Down._ The bright Spirit spread its wings against a setting sun, poised to stand or to fly. 

"I will fight the Darkness," Kim communicated. "I was given back my life to be a part of the pattern, and I cannot be a part of it if I do not join the fight."

The Crane bowed her graceful head. _I do honour to your Spirit...you are worthy of being a Spirit Warrior!_

A deep rumbling noise alerted Aisha _Cub- daughter_ the Bear said softly, padding forth from the glowing embers; _I am roused from my slumbers...there is a need for your power and strength. This is a false winter and Darkness and much will be taken from us. Chose now...Chose whether it is your path to take the fight to the Darkness for battle is nearly upon us._

"I will...I choose the way of the Spirit Warrior," Aisha replied decisively.

Out of the curling smoke of the fire the image of the Frog coalesced. _Adam...my young Frog, your transformation is nearly complete, the Balance achieved. Accept the path of the Spirit Warrior and it will fall to one side, stand as you are and it will fall to the other. Choose now and stand at the axis point of change._

Adam nodded, his face serene and calm. "I am a Spirit Warrior."

A fiery Spark dove down from the sky, transforming into a stooping bright Falcon. _Fledgling, would you risk all you have gained to follow the call of your warrior soul? To strike against the Darkness Visible as the Sun Goes Down?_

Tommy agreed without hesitation. "Yes, I would have the chance to fight, whereas if not I would be helpless, and the Darkness would still come."

The Animal Spirits swirled back into the fire and it flared bright white for a dazzling moment. _The Choices are_ _made. Walk forth from this place as Ninjetti Spirit Warriors of the Great Power,_ echoed a chorus of voices.

Around their necks, the Spirit Crystals pulsed and crackling unleashed in a burst their long restrained dormant Powers. They transformed as their Spirit Warrior armour flowed over them, bonding to their bodies, much as it had to Billy all that time ago. The four of them stood slowly, feeling the immensity of the Great Power surging within them as it had once before, remembered only from their dreams of that other time. Each of them bore the marks of the various colours they had been touched with by the Power. Kim and Aisha were Pink and Yellow respectively and Adam had managed the combine Black and Green, though he was predominantly Black, Tommy was White with the Falcon's eyes glittering Red and Green. They were back and ready for action.

~*~

Dark Spectre stood up, massive and intimidating in his command ship throne room as the Silver Nid-hi approached. 

"Everything is in place, Ilana," he addressed her with more familiarity now. 

The silver-maned Nid-hi stared at the 12 separate split- screen views of different planets. "It is well done," she said melodically. "Why is there no fleet above Phaedos?" she asked suddenly, zooming in on the appropriate screen.

Dark Spectre rumbled, "It is an empty world save for the objective of our quest. There are no defenders to distract our purpose. Still, Dulcea is a Master Warrior..."

"I will send three Nid-hi there. This is not a time to take chances. Sehaine, Jerol!" she called. A chestnut brown Nid-hi and a massive ebony black creature appeared on the screens. "I give you glory, you will join with Vahn and take the heart from the Ninjetti, by stealing it from Phaedos itself." 

The two Nid-hi looked elated. "Your will Ilana," they both replied and were on their way immediately.

The silver Nid-hi turned her mane gleaming as it cascaded, silver and gold over her shoulders. "In the meantime there is no need to delay the other attacks;" she said, her eyes glittering with amethyst highlights. "Dark Spectre...the command is yours."

Dark Spectre rose from his massive throne, the lava coursing through his magma body pulsing brightly with fiery excitement. Now THIS was more like it!

"It is time!" he thundered. "United Alliance of Evil, now is the moment when we break the rule of the Council of the Wise. Prepare your attack fleets!" He paused for one thrilling anticipatory moment, and then ordered,

"Fire!"

~*~

The skies across 12 disparate worlds became blackened by veloci-fighters, Quantrons, monsters of all shapes and sizes ... and deep in the heart of each attack fleet a tiny dark needle of a ship hid, piercing its way to the planetary surface. At each place a small force of courageous defenders sallied forth against the foe, completely missing the import of that one minuscule ship in the grand scheme of things. Until it was too late.

~*~

"Rislarr!? Where did he go?" J'Shaar yelled to his fellow Sunstar Rangers as they found themselves hard-pressed by strange monsters, the like of which they had never seen before on the desert world of Drakan.

Sisthaa looked up from her controls. "He was heading back to the Solar Chamber," she reported breathlessly as her Sunstar Zord rocked under another volley of strange energies. "He said he had picked up a mysterious signal." 

"Brak shalar!" swore their leader under his breath. "He picks the worst times sometimes. See if you can get him back here! I'll try and distract this big ugly...primate with wings."

Rislarr ran into the Solar Chamber, hoping against hope that he had been wrong. He had seen the merest hint of a pattern on his screen, but enough to make his eyescales burn green with concern.

He stopped, horrified. There on the floor of the Chamber lay C'Haal their mentor, unconscious or ... dead, and standing over him a creature like being drawn from the legends of his people, a golden, elegant dragonlike face, delicate swept back horns and glowing golden, _alien_ eyes .

"A Neeshi!" he whispered under his breath in superstitious awe. Nonetheless, this creature, however like the fabulous creatures with magical powers that littered their culture, had attacked C'haal. And more to the point, had defeated him, C'Haal...a Warrior of the First Sun!

"Hold!" he challenged, his Sunstar blazing in his forehead, ready to strike. "Leave him alone!"

"Enemy of Order! Begone and I will free you from the servitude of this warped being!" hissed the golden Nid-hi in response.

Rislarr frowned. _What?_

"You will not take him! I will be forced to stop you!" he warned, preparing himself to strike. The creature looked unconcerned, and stooped again to lift his victim. Maybe they were not aware of how dangerous the power of a Sunstar could be! Rislarr focussed and one of his most powerful blasts of energy blazed towards his enemy and struck him in a blinding flash. Energy sparked from the impact, dazzling him for a moment.

Rislarr blinked ... but .. . that couldn't be!

The Nid-hi was standing seemingly unscathed. "I see that the One was correct. You are beyond hope. We have the Great Power, there is no Power of yours that can stop us, and in time all beings will rejoice that this was so...you strike from ignorance." It sighed and then drew energy from itself. "I strike from sure knowledge." 

It flung the blast of Ninjetti Power at the Drakin Ranger, and Rislarr had a moment of absolute horror before receiving a mortal injury from the creature. The golden-furred Nid-hi turned and sighed once more as the sounds of explosions and devastation rocked the walls of the Solar Chamber, lifted its unconscious prize and slipped away unseen through all the drifting smoke and choking fumes. 

Othass, Sisthaa and J'Shaar ran into the Solar Chamber, having finally pushed the attacking monster back.

"Rislarr! We could have used...." J'Shaar stopped as he saw a still, familiar form splayed on the Chamber floor, surrounded by devastation. 

"Rislarr!" he cried out, running to his friend's side. He cradled his body in his arms as the others filed in around him. "What happened?" he asked urgently, looking up at Sisthaa who had been assessing his wounds. Her eyescales glittered ebony black with grief and J'Shaar took a shuddering breath. 

The wounded Drakan was barely clinging to life. "...C'Haal...Neeshi..." he gasped out, his life fading away. "Only...Great Power....nothing else..." 

"Stay with us!" J'Shaar tried to order in a choked voice. "Stay with us, Rislarr! We need you!" 

Rislarr gave the merest hint of a smile. "...never could...take orders.." he gasped and squeezed Sisthaa's taloned hands tightly until the life fled from his body. The Sunstar in his forehead glimmered and then blazed, consuming his body in a pyrrhic emanation of pure light until there was nothing remaining of the Sunstar Ranger save the faintly pulsing Sunstar that he had worn with such honour and pride.

~*~

Dulcea looked up from her inspection of the four new Spirit Warriors, having tested some of their moves and instructed them how to develop their awareness of their own Spirit Warrior abilities, as a low chime sounded. With a frown she raised a holographic image in the centre of the ceremonial fire. The familiar shimmering form of Dimitria looking veiled and uncertain flickered into life. 

"Dimitria? Why do you call me?" Dulcea asked, perturbed.

"Why should I not call you when the Earth is being attacked?" the Inquirian replied in a tone of desperation. "Help me, Dulcea!" she pleaded. 

Things must be dire, the Master Warrior reasoned, if the Inquirian had forgotten to ask a question. She looked at the four warriors in front of her. They would be outmatched, but they had the courage and experience to try. It was their home ground, after all, and given the choice they would demand a chance to defend their home and families.

"Tommy, you must go back and see to this attack," she said as if it would be an easy task. The White Ninjetti nodded, eager to try out his new Spirit Armour. 

"I will send reinforcements as soon as I can. You have Zords, but without the Red Zord you cannot combine to produce a Megazord. May the Power protect you!"

The team looked at each other, half excited, half fearful of the coming conflict. It had been a long time for most of them and there were more than a few doubts flickering in their minds.

Tommy stood in front of them all, took a deep breath and said in a commanding tone, "Back to Action!" and they began the intergalactic teleport home, right into a whole heap of trouble.

~*~

Rocky sat disconsolately on the edge of the hidden circle, trying very hard to hide from himself how hurt he was inside about not being able to be with the others, to be a part of that team again. The fact that he had had to throw it back in their faces for their own good, to protect them from his weakness was the salt being rubbed into an old and festering wound. He'd probably finished any chance he had ever had of making it with Kat, and they would be out saving the world or galaxy or universe or whatever and he would be here...kicking his heels.

"Oh, get a grip." Rocky said to himself, disgusted at his self pity.

He suddenly caught sight of a figure standing within a few metres of him, silently watching him, its face obscured by the hood cowled around its face. Rocky cursed and leapt to his feet as swiftly as he could into a defensive stance as the figure limped towards him.

That movement stirred a feeling of recognition, but he still challenged the newcomer "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for a friend of mine," a familiar voice said and brushed back the hood, revealing the easily recognisable features of Skye. Bright blue eyes met his and he asked tentatively, "Is he here?"

Rocky stood rooted in shock. It had been over a year since he had seen the artist in the flesh, and the passage and experience of that time had left its marks on them both. He was not sure what to say. For a while he had ... hated Skye in his absence, for having seen the vision of him injured and off the team and not warning him, blaming him for his inability to adjust and Powerloss, because it was easier to blame someone who was not there to fight back. Then he had realised what it was he didn't like anymore, which was the bitterness that he had carried around inside of him that made him feel less than who he was.

He missed Billy, he missed Skye, he missed what had been, and it had taken a long time before he could acknowledge that it wasn't really the artist's fault. And then for the longest time he had wallowed in the depression brought about by the fact that it was his fault if anyone's at all!. 

He nodded slowly in response to Skye's hesitant query and with a broadening smile walked forward and gripped the surprised Star Ninjetti in a hug. 

"I'll take that as a yes." wheezed Skye as the air was momentarily squashed from his lungs.

"Ah man, it is so good to see you! Is Billy here?" Rocky asked, his mood swinging to anticipation. He hadn't seen Billy for ages and he had been surprised at how much the absence of the Wolf Ninjetti had affected him. Billy hadn't always been quite as active in doing things as some of the others, but he was ALWAYS there. Always. He would stop whatever he was doing and help, or just talk as if his own things were of secondary importance to him. Skye was like that, too. After his initial reticence about being friends with an artist, Rocky had found in him a wicked sense of humour that matched his own and who never assumed that he would not understand or that whatever they discussed would go above his head.

Sky shook his head "I'm sorry, I came alone...I will rejoin them soon," he said regretfully.

"Then why are you here?" Rocky asked. "Not that it isn't great to see you, but I will be heading back to Earth soon, as soon as Dulcea whistles up the Great Power or whatever..." there, despite his best intentions, a flash of that old bitterness that Kat had suffered through showed its ugly head.

"I was summoned ... to make sure that things go as they should ".Skye said, wishing he could be a little more specific. He cleared his throat. "I guess, to make sure that you joined the Ninjetti Spirit Warriors," he added finally, though now he was here he wasn't sure if that was the whole of the story.

"I've just been through all this with the others," Rocky said wearily, his anger dissipated.

"I know; I heard," Skye said and added dryly "I expect Billy and Trini did, too - wherever they are!"

"So...you've had a wasted journey - my back is still wrecked." Rocky held up a hand to forestall any comments. "I can accept that part of it now, I cannot do the things I used to, and that is fine. I've adapted. What I cannot accept is being a cripple and a liability to the team and getting them hurt!"

He noticed that the artist was unusually quiet for a long while before he replied quietly, "I understand."

"How can you understand?" Rocky said with a flash of anger; "what do you know...oh." His expression dropped when he realised how tactless he had been, as he looked at Skye's damaged leg.

"Oh geez, Skye...I didn't mean ... well, what I meant to say was..." Rocky began, trying to extract his proverbial foot from his mouth.

"No, it is quite true," Skye said with a sigh. "There have been a lot of occasions where Billy and Trini have become hurt because of me, because of my comparative weakness. But there have been as many occasions now where despite my physical limitations, I have managed to save them."

"Sounds rough," Rocky commented, trying to accept that whilst he had been safe on Earth, Billy, Trini and Skye had been out ... getting hurt.

"It has been. I suspect it will get worse," Skye said. "It bothered me a great deal to start with," he continued. "But, I finally realised that I was underestimating their strength and courage and will. I was trying to deny them their choice, by making it for them. Exactly what you are doing."

"What do you mean?" Rocky asked, knowing but not really accepting it inside.

"You are trying to 'protect' them by taking away their choices. I had to finally realise that Billy and Trini had the strength and willingness to accept without resentment the burdens that being my friend placed upon them...as I did for them. You have to realise that you are not the only one who can make a sacrifice." Skye lapsed into silence.

Rocky pondered that. This was true, just think of Kat. After all she had been through with him, she had accepted everything without reservations, him as the Power Ranger, him as Rocky the moody, deep in the throes of Power Withdrawal...all this time she had shown him the way and he had been too blind to see it. He groaned. "What do you want me to do?"

"Become a Spirit Warrior," Skye said promptly.

"Even like this?" he indicated himself.

"I can't make that decision for you." Skye countered flatly.

Rocky took a deep breath. "If it can be done, I will do it without hesitation. But, I want to make it absolutely clear that they will have the right to throw me out at anytime for their own good."

Skye nodded. And then grinned broadly.

What's so funny?" Rocky asked suspiciously. 

"Nothing...just lie down".

"Why?"

"I'm going to heal your back now." The artist said nonchalantly and then ducked as Rocky stared in astonishment and started to hurl imprecations at him along with gravel and sand.

"What the...why didn't you just say so!? Can you? Really? What was all that about?" Rocky babbled at him, hope rising unbidden.

Skye brushed the sand from his long white hair. "You had to have truly accepted that you would be willing to be a Spirit Warrior, and not because you were 'bribed' to do so by a promise of healing. There is no room for doubt."

"But can you?" Rocky pressed with barely concealed hope.

Skye nodded slowly, his blue eyes sparkling. "Now I can. Healing is one thing I have been perfecting and practising during the trip. I've certainly had opportunity to use my new skills."

Rocky lay down immediately and a feeling of anxiety began to build. "I guess this will hurt, right? I mean, when I have physio, it can be excruciating..." he turned onto his front as indicated.

"No, it shouldn't hurt at all, in fact it should feel pleasant. You may well drift off ... okay?" Skye said, readying himself.

"Fine, go ahead." Rocky said nervously, and felt Skye place his hands on his back and an intense heat from them which he would not have believed that filled him with a warm, floating, golden glow. Despite his best intentions he slipped into a semi-dreaming state.

He was in a jungle, luxuriant foliage and life all around him, and he could feel that he was being watched. His Apespirit approached.

__

It is time now...take the lessons you have learnt and decide whether or not you want to accept the responsibilities of being a Spirit Warrior.

"If my back is healed there is no question..." Rocky replied. A twist of bitterness appeared. "But why? Why did this have to happen to me? Why all this pain?" he demanded.

The Apespirit fixed him with a warm and slightly disappointed look. _My young one...you know the answers. It was a testing of the Blue...._

"Damn it! Why?.." Rocky shouted bitterly to the jungle surrounding him. He paused to think. A revelation dawned.

"This is why, isn't it? To change the way I think, how I behave. To stop me from leaping into action without thought...but why did it have to be so damn painful?"

__

Change is always difficult, and the more resistance there is the more pain is experienced, the Ape Spirit replied sagely.

Rocky nodded and then paused. "Hang on a moment ...was that you just telling me if I hadn't been such a blockhead, this would have been over and done with a lot sooner?"

There was a rumble of amusement from the Apespirit. _When you learn a lesson, my young one, you obviously feel the need to learn it very thoroughly!_

"You were, weren't you?" Rocky started to laugh. And laugh....and laugh. All the good humour that had been locked away behind his self-pity surged forth suddenly as if it had be dammed behind the break in his back and just now been released.

The Apespirit waited until the laughter subsided. _Your testing by the Blue is over, but its lessons are vital. Action is now tempered by thought and in this you are worthy of your place in events to come. You are ready to become a Spirit Warrior._

The Ape stood back and bellowed, thumping its chest, and a fiery red light seemed to consume Rocky from within...

Skye connected the last of the damaged nerves and by using the immense power of the Star Crystal was able to reduce the inflammation and damage to the spinal disks that had been untreatable on Earth. This was what he found very fulfilling - being able to heal. It was the only skill he could point to that actually was definitively Ninjetti, that gave him the right to call himself Star Ninjetti. Nevertheless, it had been a complex healing and as he finished, along with the beads of perspiration on his forehead a shadow fell across him. He was concentrating too hard to look up, but he knew who it was.

"Dulcea," he said quietly, acknowledging her presence. "I am nearly done."

The First Warrior dangled the Spirit crystal pendant in front of him. "I thought this might be required to complete the healing." She slipped it over the prone Ninjetti's head and almost immediately a consuming red surge of the Great Power burned through Rocky, linking him to the Spirit Warrior powers. Skye finished his healing and sat back, and saw Dulcea's worried frown.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"For the first time in a year there has been an attack on Earth and I have sent the others back to deal with it," Dulcea said. "They will need a full team. Rocky should join them as soon as possible."

Skye stood up slowly, feeling somewhat tired from his efforts. Strangely the driving force that had forced him here from across the galaxy had not abated. "He will awaken shortly. You are concerned, aren't you?" he asked, scrutinising her expression.

"Yes...something is not right. " Dulcea said softly, looking out at the sky. "Something is not right at all."

~*~

Billy and Trini directed Wolfzord into a well-mapped sector, which held the planet of Ayaho. 

"Takope's home planet," Billy mused to himself. "Do we stop at a planet with one of the Council of the Wise on it? Surely they will be covered by their agreement with Dulcea? " he half asked, half stated.

Trini drummed her fingers on the console. "I understand what you are saying, but we have had to persuade a lot of the members of the Council of the Wise by more direct means." 

Billy zoomed in on the area around the planet, hoping for some inspiration of sorts. The hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle as he thought he caught sight of some movement.

"Did you see that?" he said, sitting forward in his seat. Trini frowned. 

"No." This was where they missed Skye, who would have been able to tell them now about whether there was someone out there, and if they were vaguely friendly or hostile, something which they had taken for granted. Billy steered WolfZord towards the planet just in time to see some very familiar looking monsters pour down from a strategic position in space "Aren't those..."

"Rita and Zedd's type of monster?" Trini finished, her dark eyes wide with astonishment. "That certainly appears to be the case." 

Billy looked across at her with a questioning gaze, and she nodded . Billy activated Wolfzord's defences and prepared to take them in.

Ayaho's peaceful world, whose people lived in respectful co-operation with their bountiful planet was seeing scenes of chaos and destruction on a scale which it never had before. There wasn't just one monster but a whole batch of them, trampling and blasting and destroying seemingly indiscriminately. Billy shook his head, puzzled, as they swooped in past an ugly-looking monster that reminded him of King Sphinx, one of their first. - Where was the focus of attack? This seemed...just wanton destruction. The Ayah Rangers flashed into view and called on their powers.

"Powers of the North!" cried out the White Ranger.

"Powers of the East!" echoed the Yellow Ranger.

"Powers of the West!" shouted the Black Ranger.

"Powers of the South!"added the Red Ranger.

"Powers of the Centre!" finished the Green Ranger.

Billy looked at them begin to demonstrate their fighting prowess, and was impressed . Their powers did not seem to have the raw power of some others he had seen, but they had a distinct complexity, with multiple abilities that when used in conjunction with one another were more effective. Still with a practised eye, Billy could tell that something was amiss...the Rangers were being led away from a certain area. 

" Blue Wolf Ninjetti to Ayah Rangers!" he hailed them urgently. "You are being led away from that plateau directly behind you....what is there?"

"Blue Wolf Ninjetti? Ninjetti from Phaedos?" queried one of the Rangers swiftly between blows. 

"Yes," replied Trini. "We are here to help...what lies in that direction?" 

"Our Power Spiral Chamber..." gasped out one of the other embattled Rangers.

Trini felt a chill. "You don't think...?" she half-asked. 

"We are going to check it out for you..." Billy communicated. "Join us if you can..." 

With that, Wolf Zord turned and sped toward the general direction they had noticed. They might have missed the place if it had not been for a very large number of putties milling around outside it, and then they could suddenly see that what looked like a strange landscape was in fact a massive spiral punctuated by immense standing stones of various colours. 

"Power Spiral, I would guess..." Trini said absently, co- ordinating their descent.

There appeared to be an entrance near the north of it, and Billy and Trini swept in. Immediately as they teleported out of WolfZord they were inundated by putties, in far greater quantities than they had ever seen on Earth. Trini summoned her Spirit Warrior Armour and began to lay into them, beginning to work towards drawing the energy to Tiger Dance them into oblivion. 

"Go Billy, get in there and see what is happening!" she ordered. "I'll deal with these clay heads." Billy was about to protest, but he knew that Trini would win in the end from experience, so instead he blurred with WolfSpeed into the heart of the underground network beneath the Power Spiral. 

He entered the central chamber cautiously, hearing the crackle of damaged equipment, sparking and sizzling. 

"I have you now, Enemy of Order," a melodious voice said "You fought well, but your Powers cannot touch the Nid-hi, as the One foretold."

Inside Billy's Wolf-Spirit growled. _Enemy...powerful enemy. Be very careful, young one._ Billy had never known the Wolf to advise caution before, and decided to enter carefully. He saw a strangely elegant, grey-furred draconian creature bending over the prone form of what he had to assume was Takope, the Ayah Rangers mentor. Though he made no sound, the Nid-hi hissed and swung towards him.

"Begone! I am freeing you from your servitude to this ...creature. Rejoice that you will no longer spread the evils of Chaos by his command," it said.

"I am Blue Wolf Ninjetti Spirit Warrior, and I cannot allow you to take him," Billy challenged.

"Ninjetti!? Then you are truly damned and without hope of redemption. For this you will die and I will gain glory for ridding the universe of one of the servants of Chaos." The Nid-hi attacked him with frightening zeal, and Billy found himself fighting for his life. 

Blows almost faster than could be perceived were exchanged, both of them hurting the other but not gaining any ground. Billy had never fought someone with such skill - _maybe if Tommy or Jason were here, they might fare better_, he thought to himself, reeling from another blow. He retaliated with a flash of Spirit Claws that produced a howl of pain from the creature. The Nid-hi spun, drawing up crackling energy from within and Billy launched himself sideways as the blast clipped his side, leaving it bleeding and agonising even through his Spirit Armour. He struggled to get up, and blurred with WolfSpeed at the Nid-hi, catching it by surprise and raking it with the Spirit Claws across its shoulder and neck. 

He stopped, gasping, his side burning, and turned again. They clashed once more, both of them hampered by their injuries and then the tide of battle turned in Billy's favour as Trini arrived, battered from her battle against the overwhelming quantities of putties but still ready for more. 

The grey Nid-hi drew back briefly, spoke in a fluid alien tongue and the earth began to shake. The monsters that had been attacking the Ayah Rangers abandoned their fights and began to converge on the Power Spiral Chamber, the ground trembling beneath their giant tread. Explosions echoed and boomed around them and the structure of the chamber began to collapse. Trini and Billy were pelted by large chunks of stone and wall that rained down upon them. 

"Come on, Billy!" Trini ordered. "We have to get out of here!" 

Billy looked at the Nid-hi. "But...Takope!" he said, starting back towards the alien Mentor.

Trini uttered a cry of pain as a large piece of debris hit her, but still dragged Billy away. "Now, Will! We will be no use to him dead!" 

The two Ninjetti, the alien Power Chamber disintegrating around them, supported each other and half staggered, half ran up the passage to the outside where they saw the Ayah Rangers locked in a death struggle with a large hideous creature. 

"WolfZord remote..." Billy spoke into his communicator, sinking to his knees in the middle of the battlefield, feeling his WolfSpirit raging at their defeat. "Wolfzord, engage target, bearing zero zero three four seven three." 

They had to roll away from enemy fire as it pelted the ground around them. More putties appeared around them. It was like one of the nightmares he had experienced when he first became a Ranger, where the monsters and putties just kept coming and coming...and he fought and fought but there was no end to them. Staggering to his feet, he reached inside and drew on the support and strength of his Animal Spirit and he saw Trini do the same. Trying to ignore his injuries and Trini's, he began to whirl and turn, decimating their attackers in concert with Trini's elegant dance of destruction. Above, the WolfZord assisted in the battle with the giant-sized monster, given targeting points by Billy when he could spare a moment. Finally, the Ayah Rangers managed to get enough of a breathing space for them to position themselves to weave a complex web of energy around the monster that contracted inwards and crushed it to pieces and into fiery oblivion. The putties vanished as the debris poured from the sky above them, causing them to throw themselves flat on the ground.

Billy and Trini lay there a while catching their breaths, and the Wolf Ninjetti's mind whirled. They had been outclassed. Out-manoeuvred. No-one expected the Home Planets of the members of the Council of the Wise to ever fall into Enemy hands...he sat up suddenly, consternation on his face. 

"Not the planets...oh god...not the planets this time!" he said aloud. "The Council of the Wise itself..." 

Trini looked at him, blood trickling down her forehead as she powered down. She gestured to him to power down so she could look at him properly. He did so, but then tried to struggle to his feet. Trini pushed him down and he batted at her arms a bit feebly, 

"We have to get a message to Dulcea immediately!" he explained, oblivious to his physical state. "The Council of the Wise, they are going after all of them! We have to warn her.."

Trini bit her lip, and then nodded reluctantly. But it was going to take them a little bit of time to get a communication through to Phaedos, with the state the Power Spiral Chamber was in, and the state they were both in. But Billy had that obstinate look in his eye, and she knew that he would not rest until it was done, which meant she would not either.

~*~

Vahn waited impatiently. Across the galaxy, warriors of his own kind were wreaking havoc on the Enemies of Order and here he was staring into space, when his objective was unsuspecting on the plant below. But Ilana was not someone to cross. Her dedication to the One was holy in its zeal and fire, and she had been one of the Chosen since her coat had moulted and shone out silver and "star-touched", as his people described it. To be linked with Jerol and Sehaine would be advantageous too, and the mere fact that he of all the advance Nid-hi had been directed to bring down their most Ancient of Enemies meant that he would have his name attributed to a Star in the roll of honour and his glory would shine on until the ends of time. Finally. 

"Jerol, Sehaine." He acknowledged the spirit-touch that occurred moments before the ship appeared. 

"Vahn. We are honoured to join your mission," Sehaine said quietly. 

Vahn practically glowed. His mission. "My thanks for your assistance. With three of the most pre-eminent warriors of the Nidhi present, this mission should be simple and clear- cut."

"Agreed," rumbled Jerol. 

"No communications until the surface," ordered Vahn, and began the descent.

Jerol snorted. "What was all that about?" he asked Sehaine. "...'honoured to join your mission'? I mean.. he's barely moulted his first horns!"

Sehaine laughed. "He is a young Warrior, out combating the forces of Evil, nay the very face of Evil itself, the Ninjetti, and a touch of ego support will not harm." She shook her mane of lustrous chestnut hair. "I do not want him falling apart at the first view of an enemy." She fixed her mate with a gleaming dark eye. "Jealous?" 

Jerol looked at her teasing expression. "Of that one? No. He is good at what he does, even I know that, otherwise he would not have been admitted to the Warriors or chosen for this mission....but I need no-one else with me when we fight side by side." His jet black eyes gleamed.

Sehaine ran her hands through her mate's glorious black mane. "We will win a glorious victory for the side of Order this day, never fear. Come then, let us show the others how things should be done!" before swinging their black needlecraft down after their eager companion.

~*~

Skye sat and watched as Rocky finally pushed himself up, flexing his back with great astonishment and wonder. 

"You really did it," he murmured as he stood. He stood for a moment then let out a wild whoop of exultation, and flowed into an amazing string of moves, high kicks, somersaults and twists that would never have been possible before. He bounced off of the edges of the Sacred Circle like a rubber ball, nearly making Skye and Dulcea dizzy with his antics. He finally stopped, not even winded. 

"You cannot know what it is like to be able to do that after so long!" he said explosively. 

There was a moment of silence and Skye said quietly, "No...I can't," and Dulcea lay a gentle hand on the tired Star Ninjetti's shoulder.

"Aw...Skye, I'm sorry; I've done it again, haven't I?" Rocky said. Obviously, if Skye could heal his leg he would have done so long before, but equally obviously there was some reason why he hadn't. He wondered what it was. Instead he settled for giving his friend another rib-cracking hug. "Thank you...thank you so much."

Dulcea interrupted. "There is already work for you to do, Red Ape Ninjetti. The others have returned to Earth to fend off an attack from hostile forces. They will not be able to create a Megazord unless you are with them. Come!"

She led them down to the main part of the Temple and was preparing the energies to teleport Rocky back to Earth when Skye stopped suddenly, holding up a hand to forestall any further action. "Something is wrong ... something is very wrong!" he said nervously. The Star Crystal gleamed, flushing garnet suddenly.

Dulcea stood beside Rocky and reached out with her own Ninjetti senses. "I sense no-one there," she said. "Maybe an effect of the healing...an echo perhaps?"

Rocky scanned the surrounding area. "I can't see anything," he admitted.

Skye shook his head and pursed his lips, frowning, as he reached out across the surrounding area through the Star Crystals power. There was the merest moment when Dulcea saw his expression alter from concentration to horror before Skye suddenly he flung himself at Rocky and knocked him to the ground, an explosive blast knocking him backwards. In the moments before he became unconscious he mentally yelled a warning of enemies after Dulcea, before collapsing on the Temple floor.

The Nid-hi had arrived.

Three strange humanoid dragon creatures were approaching the Temple, one lagging behind as it recovered from hurling the blast that had felled Skye.

"Dulcea of Phaedos, Enemy of Order...I have come for you, we have come for you all," hissed the black-crested, ebony-maned Nid-hi broaching the outer regions of the Temple.

Dulcea turned and ran into the Neola Jungle, knowing she was their main target. The Nid-hi! Powers of Light! They were real!

"Rocky - keep them out of the Temple! Keep them out!" she shouted as she ran. She had to lead them away, they could not take the Temple!. One of the Nid-hi remained at the Temple site and the other one followed after the black-satin coated draconian Nid-hi pursuing Dulcea.

Rocky paused. What could he do? Again the paradoxical benefit of being injured showed -- he was actually thinking about it! The Temple must have defences. The Ninjetti were not stupid, and there must be something that Dulcea specifically did not want anyone to find. _Help me_, he cried out to his Ape Spirit as the Nid-hi approached leisurely.

__

The Ninjetti have the Power of the Spirits, summon that Power and they will be defeated, advised his Apespirit. 

__

Summon the Spirits? How? He glanced around and saw Dulcea's bag of Spirit Dust. _Good enough_. He ran swiftly around the Temple perimeter, not having a clue if what he was about to do would make any difference whatsoever. He completed the circuit as the Nid-hi crested the edge of the plateau. _What now?_ It didn't seem overly impressed. _Set fire to it...that was it, Dulcea set fire to it to release the Spirits._ Rocky looked around wildly, ran to the ceremonial fire and grabbed a firebrand. He touched it to the Spirit Dust and it flared into life like a rippling snake of fire. But it wasn't high enough. The Nid-hi looked at his attempt with what could only be described as a scornful look and Rocky knew that he was missing something, something vital. 

__

The fire within! said the Apespirit. _The Ninjetti have no fear of fire, their strength draws from the fire within. It is a Power of the Red...use it!_

Rocky hesitated, but knew what he had to do. He stepped actually into the Spiritflames, which much to his surprise did nothing but fill him with a boundless energy crackling up his spine like a dragon force unleashed. He raised his arms and the flames leapt higher around him. The Nid-hi keened in dismay and began to lope faster towards him. Rocky used the famous energy that he possessed and drew the curtain of flames above him, controlling it, arcing it, meshing and connecting it in a sphere that encapsulated the Temple in an impenetrable dome of Spirit Fire. Muscles trembling and jaw clenched with the effort of holding the fire together, Rocky was only dimly aware of the pacing Nid-hi in front of him.

"You will not hold it Enemy of Order!" it said. "You cannot!"

"I will hold it as long as it needs to be held," Rocky replied through gritted teeth.

"You are a young Ninjetti..." The creature's tone made the title an epithet. "You have not trained your mind to tolerate the pain, to focus....you will fail!"

Rocky thought back briefly to the past -- nearly a year of learning to cope with pain and distance his mind from distractions. "I have the will, I will do it..." he said more to himself.

The creature reached out, testing the fire barrier and immediately it swirled and curled around him, dancing shapes of animals in the flames. With a melodic cry it jumped back, clutching a burnt furred hand. Unnervingly it sat down and watched the Red Ape Ninjetti Spirit Warrior channelling the flames, waiting for the first sign of weakness or collapse.

~*~

The Questing Ninjetti had been doing well so far, had fought off immense scarab-type beetles and navigated through a fireswamp filled with self-combusting gases. They had surmounted the swamp, and breathing heavily, the candidates for the Great Power looked across at the Great Monolith within their view. Around them the wild and savage Neola jungle rustled and burst forth with a myriad curiosities, beautiful insects, plants and flowers, the green smell of growing things redolent in the warm humid air. Out of the luxuriant growth the imposing form of the Great Monolith loomed as if growing from the planet, like some great stone world tree that had sunk it's roots down to the very core of the planet before extending its mass to support the sky.

"Nearly there, guys!" Jason said encouragingly. Boy, the others had not been kidding when they said these tests were hard!

"Just give me...a moment...to....catch my breath..." Tanya said, sitting on a log and bending over to ease the stitch in her side. They had been required to do extensive acrobatics and running to get through the dual perils of fire and water from the swamp and virtually all of them were alternately scorched or drenched. She was particularly wet having gone face first into a large muddy pool. She picked some weed from her black hair.

"And brush off all these Adams, " Kat said slyly, flicking a tiny jewellike frog that was glistening on her friend's shoulder. "He just can't leave you alone for a moment, can he?"

Zack roared with laughter. "The rumours are true, then!" 

Justin chuckled alongside him as he dropped the strange foliage he had been examining curiously as it started to stain his hands a lurid purple.

Tanya grinned. "Zack...if you don't shut up, I'll set my boyfriend on you." She uncurled her hand and let another frog leap out, startled, into the Black Ninjetti's face.

"Arrgh! Don't beat me up! Mercy! Mercy!" Zack rolled back in mock terror.

"Was he like this all the time when he was on the team?" Kat asked rhetorically.

"Worse," Jason answered drily."You don't even want to know about the time he wanted to used the Mastodon Zord to make it a white Christmas in Angel Grove."

Zack was about to prepare a defence for himself when they all simultaneously heard a desperate voice shouting in their heads as their Spirit Crystals glowed in unison.

__

Enemies! After Dulcea...in the Forest! Help us! Temple under attack, protect Her!... It faded out with a dreadful suddenness. 

Jason stood up straight. "Did you all get that?" he said urgently.

"Wasn't that Skye?" Tanya said at the same time. Questions arose in her mind - what was Skye doing here? How - when- why? Her curiosity would have to wait to be satisfied.

Jason rapidly re-evaluated their options. "This is not part of the test." He said, his heart pounding. "This is real."

The others' good humour faded swiftly. "What do we do, Jase?" Zack asked soberly.

Jason paced. The Temple under attack, Dulcea on the run...she was a Master Warrior - they didn't have their Powers yet. There was no time for hesitation. He had heard the others talk about the guidance of their Animal Spirits and he experimentally asked for help. 

__

Can you guide me to Dulcea? he mindspoke. To his surprise there was a response. 

__

Yes, but there is very little time,his Lionspirit replied. _But that one I could find across the Galaxy._

He made his decision.

"Zack, Tanya, Justin and Kat - Get the Great Power, and get yourself back to the Temple and protect it. For them to attack it it must be of vital importance. I am going after Dulcea now!" he ordered, falling right back into his leader mode once again.

"Jase! You haven't got your Powers!" Zack protested. "How will you find her?"

"I will find her." he said, starting to turn to run "There is no time, she is in danger now!"

"Good luck, Jase!" Justin called as the Red Lion Ninjetti ran into the forest.

"Let's go!" Tanya said forcefully. "Jason is relying on us!" With immense purpose the rest of the Questing Ninjetti jogged towards the Monolith.

~*~

Skye stirred and opened his eyes and wondered for a brief moment if that blast had actually killed him as all around was lit up with a glorious flickering light, even the sky above him. Aching and stiff, he pushed himself up, seeing a figure miraculously standing in the heart of the furnace-like flames. "Rocky!" he muttered and limped over. He fortunately had not actually been struck by the blast, just the concussion wave. He had to find out what had happened whilst he had been unconscious.

"Rocky...Rocky, can you hear me? " he called over the strange roar of fire.

"Yes," the Red Ape Ninjetti replied through gritted teeth. _Gotta hold it, gotta hold it_...he chanted to himself.

"Where's Dulcea?" Skye asked urgently. "What happened?" He realised that the strange shape beyond the wall of flame was unaware of his presence, protected as he was by whatever it was that Rocky was doing.

"She ran into the forest...two of them...followed." Rocky said, straining to maintain control.

Skye straightened up, determined. "I have to go! Can you give me a gap at the back of the Temple to get out?" he asked urgently.

Rocky would have laughed. "Letting it down is not the problem," he said in a gasp. A very small hole began to emerge in the dome of fire. "Go! Go now!"

Skye began to move and as he left, turned and said, "Rocky, I called the others...just hold on for the others to get here - I'll find Dulcea." And with that he vanished beyond the safety of the Temple environs and slithered down the steep slope to the Neola forest.

"Just hold on until the others get here..." Rocky muttered, finding a new mantra to chant as his protective dome burned brighter. "Hold on...the others..get here...hold on...hold on.."

__

Just make it soon!

~*~

The last of the strange animal-headed statues defeated and the four Questing Ninjetti stood poised, exhausted and bruised limping from their exertions. How on earth were they going to protect anything in this state? Tanya walked forward and place a trembling hand on the stone exterior of the Great Monolith and with a thunderous boom, it split open letting molten gold light of the Great Power free. The Animal Spirits of the Cheetah, the Oryx, the Dolphin and the Mongoose leapt out as creatures of light and plunged deep into the successful candidates bodies, enacting a miraculous change. The Spirit Warrior Armour flowed up and over them, all their hurts and exhaustion were cleansed in that moment of painful ecstatic joining with the Great Power. As abruptly as the transition was made the Monolith withdrew it's touch and the glade fell silent once more.

Zack looked up. "I refuse to say it on account of being cliched but...wow." 

There were similar murmurs of agreement from all around him whilst they all tried to absorb what had happened to them.

"Time enough for admiring our new threads later." Zack said briskly "We have to get back to the Temple pretty quick."

Tanya looked back at the way they came "Can we teleport?" she asked thinking of how long it had taken them to get there. Too long to be of any use to Jason or the Temple if it took the same time to get back.

Justin looked up "I don't think so...we all have old communicators, none of them are configured yet to the Great Power." He fiddled with his a little bit. "I could reconfigure it...but it would take me quite a while."

Kat shook her head brushing her fair hair out of her eyes. "We don't have that long." Rocky was back there. She needed to get back there and be sure he was all right. "Maybe...maybe if we turned to our animal spirit forms as Billy did back when he got his Powers." She suggested hopefully. She was the Cheetah, she could get back there fast.

Justin and Zack looked at each other a little resigned. " Not sure if that would work for us." Zack pointed out glumly. "Mongooses aren't built for speed."

"But Cheetahs are!" Kat said triumphantly "You could hold onto my back as I ran."

"And I could carry Justin on my back" Tanya spoke up her eyes gleaming having already worked out the obvious problem of Justin not being able to change forms. "Then we run like crazy and get to the Temple!"

The girls looked at each other determined. "Lets do it!".

"Think we've been over-ruled." Zack said aside with a half smile.

Justin grinned "Well if you can think of anything better?" The pair of them shrugged and prepared for the Ninjetti animal change.. 

It was not an easy thing to do and without the Great Power still fresh and bright inside of them they would not have been able to accomplish it. But their need to help their friends gave them the added incentive to push through the barrier and shimmer into their animal forms. Zack glided in his mongoose shape and scampered up Kat's long golden tail and latched his claws into her sleek fur. Tanya as the powerful Oryx with her scimitar horns wait patiently as Justin jumped with enthusiasm on her back and then Cheetah and Oryx exploded forward in a breath taking sprint back to the Temple.

The Cheetah extended into full speed beginning to outpace the Oryx and Zack found himself clinging on for dear life as the landscape blurred around him. The treacherous forest passed by in a blur and it seemed very little time before he could see the plateau loom once more before them. His acute mongoose sense could see a strange shimmering light over the temple as if it were on fire. _Don't let us be too late,_ he prayed inwardly, Rocky was in there!

Kat reached into herself for the last sprint up the steep slope. _Rocky, I'm coming, hold on, be alright, be alright! Please, please let him be okay! Please!_

They crested the plateau edge seeing the strange alien creature thwarted by the intense energy of the Spirit Fire. It seemed that within the dancing flames a half-formed fluid animal shapes swirled and burned in a never-ending cycle. Kat bounded in towards the dragonlike warrior and Zack flung himself off of her back and transformed into his human warrior form catching the creature by surprise. Kat did likewise, still winded from her run and looked around desperately for Rocky and nearly cried out when she saw a figure in the fire, standing with arms raised as if trying to hold up some mighty weight. "Rocky!" she exclaimed wanting to run to his aid, but blocked by the creature. At that moment Tanya and Justin both arrived and the Nid-hi sneered.

"Then join me in battle enemies of Order. I have no fear of defeat at the hands of such lowly creatures of Chaos!" taunted Vahn, supremely confident in his abilities and Rocky watched helpless as the four new Ninjetti launched into conflict against the deadly foe with him unable to move for fear of breaking the Temples protection.

~*~

Dulcea sprinted through the forest, pursued by the two Nid- hi. They were good, very good. She tried trick after trick and still she could not evade them. She tried flying as an Owl and they became strange flying lizard creatures which she could not predict, so she reverted to running. Then at least she could sense the footfalls behind her. She was getting close to the Great Monolith; she had run far. They were trying to flank her...she could hear the whispers of the forest on either side. She would have to stand and fight. She lifted her Singing Staff and prepared herself. Real battle, not mere testing. The Nid-hi circled her, prowling, seeking weakness, probing and pushing. A flurry of attacks here, a feint there. And then the battle was truly joined.

The clearing became a whirl of flickering blows, strikes, bursts of power as move after move was countered. Expert though she was, Dulcea found herself nearly evenly matched against the two. This was not good. She realised something else; they were not trying to kill her. She had left several gambit openings that should have been seized to strike a mortal blow, and they had been ignored. They were trying to wear her down, capture her. Her green eyes flashed defiance as her enemies took it in turns to harry her and exhaust her. It was cleverly done. 

Despite all her training, and maybe because of the heavy work load, Dulcea could feel herself starting to lose ground to the emissaries of the Darkness Visible. The smaller chestnut-maned Nid-hi, sensing her weakness, closed in with a trill of triumph. She struck the Master Warrior of the Phaedos in the side with a crippling blow and opened herself up in her excitement to a deadly riposte. Dulcea brought her Singing Staff up in a powerful strike and caught the draconian being in the heart. The Nid-hi tumbled slowly to the forest floor; a flourish of her flowing chestnut mane, dark thick scarlet blood pouring from her mouth. Dulcea, for the first time in millennia, had taken a life of an enemy in the name of the Great Power.

"Sehaine!!!" screamed the massive ebony Nid-hi. "You have killed her! The One was right about you all, you feed on carnage and chaos!" He roared in pain of loss. "I care not that you are wanted alive, for this you will die!"

Dulcea was still winded and unable to move as the Nid-hi summoned his Spirit Power to blast her away in a bolt of revenge-fuelled Ninjetti Power. Suddenly out of the undergrowth, a red-clad figure burst and dove at the creature, knocking him to the ground. The Nid-hi roared and kicked the figure away, who landed with a heavy thump and then struggled to his feet again. Dulcea watched in astonishment as Jason challenged the Nid-hi once more, placing himself firmly between her and the insane alien creature. They met with a devastating clash, and Dulcea realised with a strange sick feeling in her stomach that Jason had not yet reached the Great Power. He was fighting as an ordinary human being....

Only there was nothing ordinary about the way he was fighting, the fire and passion that were there, the courage and strength of the Lion Spirit was with him even without the Great Power directly touching him. Even in her pain she could tell this was personal to him, coming back from crippling blow after blow with a determination fuelled by ...something. She staggered to her feet determined to help, but her reappearance only seemed to redouble the Nid-hi's anger. Its dark velvet black features were distorted by grief and rage .

"I will not be the only one Mateless!" he snarled and drew an arc of energy and hurled it in her direction.

With an inarticulate cry Jason turned and leapt towards her, intercepting the strike, the deadly energy catching him high in the centre of the back.

Dulcea was looking straight at him, the corona of energy impacting against his body crackling around him like a deadly halo. But what held her was his face -- his expression imprinting itself on her mind, an odd mixture of pain and absolute relief in his dark brown eyes as he crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

Something unlocked inside of her in that moment, a pure animalistic force. Before the Nid-hi could strike again, the power of the Spirit Warrior stirred inside of her and in a pure reflex she drew the purity of the Great Power through her heart and launched it from herself at the creature. He didn't stand a chance against that incandescence and was felled in a moment, his own pain of loss ended by her blow.

Dulcea ran to Jason's body, unsure of what she was feeling. She turned him over, seeing the bruises and cuts from his fight with the Nid-hi beginning their first flush of swelling. Inside her Owlspirit was keening and she touched the young Ninjetti's face hesitantly.

"Jason...oh Jason, no.." _Why did he do it? Why?_ _He had stepped in front of a blow of the Great Power for her...and now he would...._

She couldn't bear to even think it. She had seen comrades die in battle, watched the death of Candidates unworthy of the Great Power as they perished on their quest with regret and sorrow, but had accepted it as part of the Universal law, the design of the Great Power. Yet now, in a moment, for a young Red Lion Ninjetti that way of thinking was dust on the moonwinds.

His dark eyes opened, strangely calm. "Dulcea.." he whispered, looking up at her in wonder. She was alive. Thank God, she was alive. Even now, even with his life draining away he was touched by that undeniable feeling as he looked into her emerald green eyes. That feeling that had been missing from being with Emily, which he realised - _too late!_ was that special something he had been searching for all his life. "You're safe...I thought I'd..lost you." His strong voice was a shadow of itself.

__

She doesn't know what you are talking about, Jason thought hazily to himself. He was starting to feel cold and distant. _Can you lose someone if you had never really found them in the first place?_

"No Jason, I am here," the woman warrior said, her heart aching. Duty mattered as nothing in this moment. "Please don't leave me," she added in a whisper. There were none here to see her weakness, to hide her feelings from in the name of Duty.

Jason refocused on her face and saw with a narrowing, dimming vision that a single tear was running down her cheek. "Don't cry...I'm not worth your tears," he gasped. Pain twisted inside of him and he stiffened, feeling the last remnants of his strength drift away.

He had nothing to lose now, say the words or take them into death. "Dulcea...I think...I think I love you.." His eyes began to close and his breath to fade.

"Nooooooooooo!!!!!!" screamed the distraught woman, her heart had leapt up at those words and been pierced by the pain of an impending loss. She bent over the unconscious form, her shoulders shaking with sobs, all the emotion that had been repressed or ignored for Duty spilling out in the wake of that revelation.

~*~

Skye heard the scream and swearing to himself semi-ran, semi-limped as fast as possible in its direction. If only he had an Animal Spirit form, he would have been there ages ago! He reached out with the Star Crystal, focussing on Dulcea's mind, feeling its distraught emotions like a maelstrom not too far away. He burst into the clearing, seeing the two dead Nid- hi and Dulcea cradling the still form of Jason as if trying to hold him to life.

"Jason... no! Dammit, NO!" Skye cried out and joined them. He knelt down, placing a hand to his friend's forehead, ignoring Dulcea for the moment. The Star Crystal flared. Jason was still there, but slipping further out of reach. Time to stop that. He tried to prise the body away from Dulcea, who refused to let go. 

There was no time for patience. "Dammit, Dulcea do you _want_ him to die?" he said harshly.

That stopped her. "He's not dead?...I can't sense him, or his Animal Spirit!" she said with a flicker of hope.

"Well, I can," Skye said tersely, pulling Jasons tattered shirt open so he would be able to get a hand over his heart. "I have studied all the healing techniques of the Ancient Ninjetti from the Ma'rai Sphere and I have the Star Crystal...but if I don't act now, I will lose him before we can try anything!" 

Dulcea dubiously released her grip on the young man and Skye wrapped his arms around him, positioning both hands over the heart area and in a refined version of what he had done with Kimberley all that time ago, tied the two of their life forces together, feeding Jason's fading energies with his own. Immediately the strain appeared on his own face, and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold the link for long. He tried to work out what to do without losing his grip. This was a serious wound, Jason did not even have the Great Power and he would die unless....That was it!

"Dulcea ... we need to get him to the Monolith, " he gasped out. The pain was starting to echo in him.

She looked up, suddenly comprehending his meaning. "You mean if he receives the Great Power...."

"Yes, the Spirit, Mind and Body are refreshed and renewed after the Challenges, are they not? It should be enough. Maybe not to completely heal him but to bring him back," Skye said in a weak tone. "We must hurry - I don't know how long I can hold onto him like this." _It will just have to be long enough_, he thought to himself grimly.

Dulcea got up with a purpose, and essentially carrying and supporting both of them, half dragged them through the forest in her eagerness to reach the Monolith in time

~*~

By the time they stood before it, Skye was also semiconscious and perspiring with the effort of trying to hold Jason in this world. He was now beginning to wonder if it had been Rocky who he had been summoned to Phaedos to heal to preserve the pattern. He just hoped he had enough strength to wake the Monolith. Dulcea stood before the Monolith of the Great Power, her arms raised like a Priestess invoking the benevolence of the Universe.

"This one has proved himself worthy beyond all other to receive the Great Power!" she intoned in a resounding voice, firm with conviction. "He had the courage and strength to leave it behind to save another when it was within his grasp, at great cost to himself. That is the true strength of the Ninjetti. Open now and receive him into the Heart of the Great Power!"

The Monolith appeared to resonate with a deep inaudible chime and cracked open with a blazing pure light. Skye dragged himself and Jason over into its heart, and for a moment Dulcea saw the flicker of starwhite fire and wings around the artist before the glowing shape of the Lionspirit stepped forth and leapt ghostlike into the Lion Ninjetti's bared chest. The glow of the Great Power seemed to fill the young man, spreading throughout his body until, startling Dulcea, he heaved a deep shocked breath and sat up as the Ninjetti armour began to cover him.

The light faded and the Monolith snapped abruptly shut.

Jason looked down at himself in astonishment. "What....but a minute ago...I was ...." Surely he had been fading into the darkness, feeling his life ebb away....he was still badly bruised and ...

"You were dying," Dulcea supplied succinctly. "Luckily Skye was here." She indicated the white-haired artist who had flopped backwards beside the Monolith, gasping for breath. "Thank the Powers," she added under her breath.

"Skye?" Jason turned to help the artist up. "But aren't you out in space with Billy and Trini?"

"I was summoned back here, I thought just to heal Rocky, but I think this had more to do with it," replied the Star Ninjetti, trying to get his breath back. The feeling still had not completely dissipated. There could not be something else that he had to do...could there? He wiped his brow, exhausted. He still had a feeling that this was not yet over. What else could there be left for him to do?

Jason's head was spinning. Only moments ago he seemed to remember that...he had said something to Dulcea.

He began to blush scarlet to match his new spirit warrior armour. "Oh no...did I..oh no!" He found he couldn't look Dulcea in the face. She likewise seemed to be avoiding his eyes as if deeply embarrassed by her behaviour.

Skye looked at the pair of them avoiding each other's gaze. Obviously, during the trauma and near-death experience they had been forced to face their feelings about each other. _About time!_

"So, now that you have finally admitted it...what is the problem?" he asked as if it puzzled him.

Jason had sat down, mortified. "I...Well...I mean Dulcea wouldn't...." he trailed off, looking miserable.

Dulcea got up and twirled her staff absently. "It was a stressful situation...I mean, Jason was dead...nearly dead..." She paused as her throat tightened with emotion despite her attempts to remain cool and clinical. "He probably didn't know what he was saying!" Her words challenged Jason to make a liar out of her.

Skye levelled a weary, questioning look at the new Red Lion Ninjetti who was struggling with his own emotions. "Jason?" There was no response.

"Did you mean what you said?" the Star Ninjetti pushed.

Jason leant his head in his hands, ran his hand through his dark hair and spoke in a very quiet voice. "Yes," he admitted. He looked up at Dulcea with an intense gaze meeting her glittering green eyes that made his heart pound, his pulse race and the indescribable feeling burn inside him. "Yes," he repeated in a stronger voice. "I meant it."

Dulcea's eyes lit up and a smile began to flicker on her lips, before she made it fade. "No...no, you don't know what you are saying. I have a Duty to the Ninjetti, I was told that it was my Destiny to hold the Great Power and defend it the best way that I could. There is no room for ... love with the weight of the Duty on me," Dulcea explained sorrowfully. "You are young, and I have been alive during the rise and fall of empires..." _Talk about an older woman, it was not even funny!_ she thought to herself bitterly. "I'm sorry, Jason...I just can't let myself get involved...not now...I can't allow anything to get in the way of our Purpose." 

It seemed ridiculous that saying this should hurt so much, she barely knew him, he barely knew her. 

It wouldn't be fair. 

It couldn't be allowed.

Skye looked at the pair pushing themselves apart and the hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle. Jason looked at once devastated and resigned at Dulcea's words. He understood and he wouldn't interfere with her wishes. It seemed that this subject would be closed completely, and at that point Skye felt a feeling of panic rise within him that he didn't understand but could not deny.

"No!" he nearly shouted, surprising even himself . The words seemed to rush to him to try and stop this parting of the ways.

"Dulcea, you will deny your Purpose if you do not give yourself and Jason a chance. Has it occurred to you that part of your Destiny might be to love him, and he you? What is it with the Council of the Wise and love...why do they think that Decisions and Duty are inherently separated from Love? That is why we take on the Duties in the first place -- because we care. Every Ranger across the Galaxy is not chosen because they seek the Power, but because they care and love their world and their people to take the responsibility for keeping them safe. Every hero's strength comes from how deeply they care, and those that love have the deepest strength of all!"

Skye stopped, breathing hard, almost trembling with the force of his words. He calmed himself and spoke more slowly but no less intensely,

"Jason...you care for Dulcea...and that gave you the strength to fight an Enemy of great Power, in a way you should never have been able to - and when you could prevail no more, that love was deep enough to sacrifice yourself for her. And Dulcea...your love for Jason drew forth the strength of Power to destroy the Nid-hi. Do you both understand?"

__

The Star-bearer speaks wisely her Owlspirit mindspoke through her confusion. 

__

But you always said the Duty was Sacred Dulcea protested.

__

But did I ever say what the Duty would be? And what is more Sacred than to Love and be Loved? The Owlspirit responded gently.

She looked at Jason, her hopes rising and a glimmer of incredulous happiness rising in her eyes. "I can Love? I am allowed to Love again?"

Jason's expression changed from desolation to happiness as a warm, slow smile spread across his face. He stood up unsteadily, facing her.

"I'll give you written permission if you like," Skye said drily in a quiet voice, watching the pair move back together.

Jason spoke in a intense voice. "Please, Dulcea, please give me a chance. I promise that if you feel I interfere with the tasks ahead I will leave you alone, but I only had one regret when I thought I was about to die, and that was that I had never had the chance to try to make you happy. Will you give me that chance?"

There was a brief moment of silence and then the First Warrior of Phaedos nodded her head slowly, and in that moment Skye felt the nightmare tensions that had been plaguing him and driven him to Phaedos melt away and vanish like snow in the bright warm sun. Now maybe he could rest.

"Now...I guess we better get back to the Temple and the others," Skye said tiredly as the tension that had been driving him seeped away. All three of them turned and with a great deal of care for the injuries incurred during their battles, began their return to the Temple of the Ninjetti.

The Ninjetti Spirit Warriors had returned to Earth and launched into battle immediately. Angel Grove....why? And it appeared to be monsters from Divatox, of all people. Why after such an absence would she return now and wreak such...pointless havoc!?

~*~

Tommy swooped down with FalconZord together with Kim in CraneZord, strafing the giant monsters rampaging through the city. With deadly accuracy they caught a monster in their crossfire and it exploded. Aisha's BearZord was going one on one with a big ugly fishheaded monster, ripping it to shreds as it bounced off of a city block. Adam was using the impressively powerful fireball weaponry of his FrogZord to drive two separate monsters towards the sea.

"What is going on here?" Adam called over the communicator, taking some rough hits as he paused.

"This isn't right!" Aisha concurred. "When was the last time we fought over the far side of Angel Grove? Probably when the Ooze was here. Usually it's as close to the Power Chamber as possible."

There was a deathly hush as they remembered what had happened the last time that they had fought against the Ooze.

Tommy wheeled around in FalconZord. "I'm heading back to the Power Chamber now! Hold them off, I'll be back as soon as I know everything is all right!" The White FalconZord soared away, whipping the smoke from their battle into curling whirlwinds as Tommy fought back an uneasy feeling that he was already too late.

He brought the FalconZord down in a stoop just as there was a massive explosion where the Power Chamber should be that made his insides freeze with horror. "No!! "

Tommy teleported out FalconZord in a blaze of white, green and red flecked light down to the surface, as debris still fell through the air. His worst nightmares were revisited, immediately memories of the exploding Power Chamber flashed before his mind's eye; Billy throwing himself in front of that console and then lying still, so still on the desert surface and the Powers ripped from them...They barely made it out alive, and they had thought Zordon and Alpha destroyed.

Tommy ran through the fire and smoke, searching desperately. "Dimitria!!" he called. He felt his Falconsight focus and clarify and there...there, a moving shape. 

"Dimitria!"

The shape turned and an alien face became visible, crested with a crown of light sandy yellow horns, piebald with striking white tear markings from its eyes and a blaze down the elegantly sculpted draconic features. It had the Inquirian Mentor slung over its shoulder as if she was no more weight than her familiar gauzy veil that was ripped and fluttering in the winds that stirred the smoke into tortured shapes around them.

"You! Stop, leave her!" Tommy ordered, preparing for battle and striking a defensive stance.

The Nid-hi snarled. "Begone, cursed Ninjetti....know now that your reign of chaos is OVER, your circle of Power broken." It spoke into a communicator in a fluid tone and a massive shoal of Piranhatrons teleported in, throwing themselves into attacking the White Falcon Spirit Warrior immediately. There was nothing Tommy could do, he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers of attackers and the strange creature made good its escape...with Dimitria.

~*~

"Now, Kim!" Aisha shouted as BearZord kicked one of the monsters into the CraneZord's crosshairs. 

"Woohoo! Souped up firepower, or what!" Kim whooped as the CraneZord launched crackling plasma balls of destructive energy that ripped the offending monster to shreds. 

They heard a chuckle from Adam. "Who said that it was men that were impressed by flashy features, huh?" He executed a deft manoeuvre. "You want to see flashy? Then watch what this oh so humble FrogZord can do!" 

Much to the girls' surprise, the Zord leapt straight at the monster and clung to its front. The rampaging creature roared in surprise, but that emotion was short lived as the Black FrogZord began to glow with a blinding white light and a silent explosion of energy enveloped and twined around the creature's torso, growing brighter and stronger until it dazzled their sight. And in a small mushroom cloud explosion the monster burst apart, atomised by the intense power. The Black FrogZord, a tiny intense black heart in the light, somersaulted out backwards and landed with perfect poise on the street behind it. There was a moment of silence and then the two other Ninjetti began applauding and cheering.

"Now that was something else!" Aisha said. "I always said it was the quiet ones you had to watch ... they really know how to make things go with a bang!"

"Thank you, ladies..." Adam said modestly. He was quietly pleased at the power of his Zord. 

The remaining couple of monsters looked considerably less confident. They hesitated and it was then that they all heard the transmission. 

"Now we have them!" echoed Divatox's familiar voice in a particularly exultant, gloating tone.

The Ninjetti looked around, confused. What was she talking about? Modesty aside, the Spirit Warriors were beating the living daylights out of these monsters. The expression on the remaining creatures' faces could only be one of relief, and in crackles of teleportation they abruptly vanished.

"What the..." Kim said. "That's not right....not right at all...What do you think she's up to?"

"We best get over to back up Tommy.." Aisha said hastily.

Kim wheeled CraneZord in a graceful arc. "Waaay ahead of you!" she said, leaving them in her wake.

~*~

Tommy looked at the ruins of the Power Chamber with a sick feeling. Their battle...all it had been was a distraction so the creature could abduct Dimitria, and they had missed it. The others limped up to join him, momentarily struck dumb by the wreckage in front of them.

"Dimitria?" asked Adam eventually.

Tommy shook his head. "I was too late; I saw a strange dragon-like creature teleporting out, and was attacked by these...Piranahatrons...but absolutely no sign of Divatox." The White Falcon Ninjetti shook his head. "I don't understand -- I really don't get it. They've taken Dimitria. Why?"

Aisha looked up suddenly. "Guys...I have a bad feeling about this. Don't you remember that communication that we picked up during the battle?"

"Now we have them?" Kim quoted. "I thought it was odd, we were winning, not them ... oh my god." They had captured Dimitria, and so who were the "them"? "The other mentors? And isn't Dulcea a mentor?"

"Do you think...?" Adam said hesitantly, having reached a similar conclusion.

"We have to get back to Phaedos now!" Tommy said urgently, drawing the team back into action. "We'll use the Power of the Zords to teleport, they will have enough time to recharge before we get back." Dulcea, Rocky and all the others were in danger!

~*~

The Spirit Warrior team teleported in and sprinted up to the Plateau, finding Zack, Justin, Tanya and Kat wiping the floor with their alien foe. He had obviously been testing them hard though, as he was unvanquished. The Nid-hi, deciding discretion was the better part of valour at the arrival of the approaching reinforcements, swiftly teleported away.

Tommy looked at the shimmering dome of fire surrounding the Temple in amazement. "What is causing that?" he asked. 

Kat was breathing heavily. "It's Rocky - I don't know how he has been holding it, but he has," she said proudly. With that the Red Ape Ninjetti with a thankful sigh let the protective fire collapse to smouldering embers, and then rather unsteadily followed suit, falling to the ground..

"Rocky?" Kat rushed to his side and pulled him clear of any fire or embers.

"But ... I thought you weren't going to take the Powers?" Adam asked with a puzzled frown. 

"But nothing, Frog Prince," Rocky said, his voice coming back to him. He got up and stretched to his full height, showing his regained ease of movement. "The Great Ape is back!"

"Really?! Outstanding!" Aisha said and ran over to congratulate him. Adam smiled a long, slow smile of relief.

Tommy was frowning. "Where's Jason? And Dulcea?" He hoped they weren't too late, he really did. They had lost Dimitria, and now...

Zack's face immediately sobered. "I don't know," he replied. "We had a warning from Skye, you know through these Crystals." He fingered his Spirit Crystal self-consciously. "Jason sent us on to get the Great Power and went after Dulcea on his own."

"He didn't have the Power? But...." Kim said, feeling her heart sink.

"Well the dragon thing was here, wasn't it?" Aisha pointed out. "So they should be fine. There was only one back home."

"One was enough," Tommy said, feeling the keen sting of failure.

Rocky's expression became progressively more worried. "Er...guys? There were three of them in total, one stayed here, and two went after Dulcea."

At this point they all began to get very worried.

Behind them a soft chiming sound rang through the Temple and a holographic message appeared above the Summoning Fire. 

"Sisthaa of the Drakin to Dulcea of Phaedos! The Sunstar Rangers to Dulcea of Phaedos! Assistance please....massive attack....C'haal has been captured. Respond! " The image of a distraught reptilian-featured alien filled their view. 

They all looked at Tommy, unsure of what to do. Tommy felt that familiar feeling that would grip him when he led the team, half dread, half exhilaration as the responsibility gripped him.

__

See with a clear eye, see with a clear mind, his Falcon Spirit advised. 

He stepped up to respond. "This is Tommy Oliver, White Falcon Ninjetti...We will advise Dulcea when she returns - what do you need?"

"We need someone to go after our mentor C'haal!" the Drakin said with urgency in her voice. "He was abducted - half of the Sunstar Rangers are injured...Rislarr gave his life trying to stop some mysterious creature taking C'haal!" she looked away, momentarily choked with grief. "He could do nothing to stop it....many of our cities have been devastated by a monstrous giant primate with wings..." she trailed off . 

Tommy nodded sympathetically, knowing that there were no words that would adequately comfort her. Losing a team member like that. They had been fortunate that it had not happened to them. Yet.

"We will do what we can, stand by to be contacted soon," Tommy said to buy them some time. 

The image vanished to be almost immediately filled by "Talestra of Aquitar to Dulcea, Talestra of Aquitar to Dulcea of Phaedos...Alesto has been abducted, the Power Island compromised. Awaiting instruction ... respond." The White Alien Ranger's image shimmered in the flames.

Tommy repeated what he had just said to the others, hearing a similar story of death and destruction. This repeated with people and races he had never heard of, all reporting the loss of a mentor to a strange alien race and destruction wreaked upon their teams and planets. Tommy retained his composure until the very last message, called in by a very familiar voice that made them all stop in their tracks. One they had heard over a communicator signal more times than they could count.

"Come in Dulcea...Come in! Blue Wolf Ninjetti calling Dulcea of Phaedos on behalf of Ayaho..." it said wearily. A familiar pair of figures shimmered into view, seemingly supporting one another, blood streaked and bruised.

"Billy? Billy, is that you?" Tommy asked incredulously. 

The sandy haired young man seemed to straighten up. "Tommy? You're on Phaedos?" he replied in shock.

"We all are," Tommy replied. "What the hell happened to you two?" he said, taking in Trini's similarly dishevelled state. 

"We tried to stop the abduction of Takope, one of the Council of the Wise by a strange dragon-like alien." Trini said as Billy's blue eyes seemed to glaze over a little bit. 

"We failed." She finished miserably. "We wounded the creature, but it called in the backup of what appeared to be Rita and Zedd's monsters and with only one Zord and the help of the Ayah Rangers we managed to ... just ...beat them off, but we lost Takope." 

The Ninjetti looked at each other and Tommy said, "I hate to tell you this, but you're not the only ones...I had calls in from every home planet of every member of the Council of the Wise...they are all gone...but we don't know about Dulcea yet." He looked around anxiously.

"Billy, I'm not sure what we should do...they are all devastated, their planets took major hits and they are looking for Dulcea to help and...she's not here. They sent three of these creatures after her..." 

Billy snapped back to full awareness in alarm. "Three?!"

"We heard a mental shout for help from Skye that Dulcea was under attack..." Kat contributed. "And Jason ran off to help, as the others were back on Earth trying to stop an attack there...but he didn't have the Great Power..."

"Oh my god...Jason!" Billy whispered, having experienced the Power of a Nid-hi warrior first hand. He and Trini exchanged glances. Billy unwrapped his arm from around her shoulders trying to stand up straight on his own without drawing attention to his weakness. He clutched at his side trying to conceal the bleeding wound, if nothing else, from his friends not wanting them to worry. It would heal. Eventually.

"Guys, first things first...we have to try and find out what happened to Dulcea." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "No other Powers seem to work on these creatures aside from the Ninjetti Great Power, so try and get all the Ranger teams to Phaedos to quest for it." He paused, feeling dizzy and light-headed but was determined not to worry his friends by showing it. "We have to cover this last sector of space and then we will be heading back, we still have a significant period of time before the main armada reaches the galaxy. " he coughed painfully despite all his efforts. His side burned with a sheet of pain, his Ninjetti healing was not so effective against a dark strike by the Great Power.

"Billy?" Kim said in concern. "Tommy...they're both hurt pretty bad," she whispered to one side.

The Falcon Ninjetti gave a imperceptible nod. "I know....I recognise the signs now....Billy, Trini...we'll let you know what has happened as soon as possible. We'll find Dulcea and get back to you. Now get yourself seen to.." he said in a tone of voice they all found familiar. "And I mean NOW, Billy." The Wolf Ninjetti nodded, startled and the communication shut down.

"Oh man..."Tommy said, sitting down, shaken from seeing his friends in such a state and now deeply concerned about Jason. The Council of the Wise had been taken. All of them. Their home planets decimated and their Ranger teams weakened as a result. It was a Galaxy-wide disaster of the sort that could only happen when the villains ceased competing against each other for power and co-operated with some specific goal in mind. By the looks of it they had been willing to sacrifice a lot to obtain the twelve other individuals that made up the Council of the Wise. Kim sat beside him, resting her hand unobtrusively on his arm.

"Tommy....what if...what if something has happened to Dulcea and Jason..." she asked quietly giving voice to his fears.

"Then we find a way to go after them." The White Ninjetti answered with a certainty that he did not feel. He avoided the possibility that Jason had been killed rather than taken, there was nothing else that he could do at this point in time.

~*~

Dulcea groaned as she nigh on dragged the two humans up the slope towards the Temple. Skye was barely focussing due to the energy drain from all the healing he had done, and Jason was still bruised and cut badly, enough to making the prolonged trek back an ordeal for him.

"Why....oh ...why...did my ancestors have to build on a HIGH plateau..." she said, dragging them up the incline. Would the Temple even be there? Rocky had been left alone to defend it against a skilled, experienced opponent, realistically speaking what were the chances that he had managed to succeed? Her anxiety about failing in her Duty as the First Warrior of Phaedos was self-evident in her expression to both her companions who exchanged glances and made a wordless agreement. 

"Sorry, Dulcea," gasped Skye. "Why don't you go on ahead and make sure the others are okay?" 

Dulcea hesitated, looking at the pair, obviously torn between staying with them or checking on the safety of the Temple. 

"Go," said Jason in a low voice. "It's what you would do normally. It's not that far ... we'll make it." 

Dulcea nodded and sprinted up the side of the mountain, the urgency of her goal showing in her determined speed.

As soon as she was out of sight, Jason and Skye both wavered and sat down exhausted, unable even to speak for a few minutes.

"You...you are going to have your work cut out, keeping up with her..." Skye said eventually.

Jason nodded and then gave a tired grin. "Always did like a challenge!" He moved painfully, seemingly every inch of him bruised and battered. "You okay?"

Skye looked at him appraisingly. "About the same sort of "okay" as you....you okay?"

"Fine."

"Ditto."

There was a pause and the two of them began to laugh. "You are a TERRIBLE liar, Jason," Skye said. Jason nodded weakly his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold his sides to prevent them hurting from laughter spasms. They calmed down a little after a while.

Jason paused before speaking again "You think I'm being stupid about Dulcea?..I mean, I know what the others will say..she's too old for me...she's an alien..." He sounded concerned but not in the least regretuful.

Skye laughed a little. "If you had seen the mess that Trini and Billy got themselves into without having to resort to exotic excuses you wouldn't worry, but they are together now. _Really_ together."

Jason nodded. "That's good...but Dulcea is different."

"How so? You love her, don't you?" Skye said as if that was argument enough.

"Yeah...though. ...well, I can't help wondering that it's a bit sudden," Jason said in a rush. "I've never had a relationship like that."

"Jason, you started to fall in love with her over a year ago. When you first saw her on Phaedos...when you saw that painting of her, you practically tripped over your tongue!" Skye said, half laughing. "You try and tell me that she didn't stay in your mind, that you didn't think about her..."

Jason remained silent. "I tried not to," he said eventually. "But especially after I broke up with Emily, I just couldn't get her out of my head."

"Well then...not so sudden after all, is it?" Skye pointed out. "Think of all the energy you have invested into this relationship ALREADY." He smiled gently. "Love finds a way around all obstacles, Jason. If this attack had not occurred, then you and Dulcea might never have been pushed to declare your feelings."

Jason snorted. "So you're saying that me nearly being beaten to death and killed was a GOOD thing?" Skye hesitated and then nodded vigorously, grinning at the bizarre twist of fate. They both laughed again, wheezing gently as it hurt too much to do otherwise.

"I'm saying that there are reasons for most things, something of value in every experience however horrible," the Star Ninjetti replied more seriously. "Out of that near-death, love has sprung to light. Would you have said anything otherwise?"

The Red Lion Ninjetti shook his head. "I guess not." He brightened a little and smiled to himself. "It was worth it...definitely worth it."

Skye eased his tired aching muscles. "Just try not to make a habit of it. That sort of healing can't be done on a regular basis...not on top of helping Rocky." He really did feel very rough now, as if he had a severe bout of 'flu.

"You helped Rocky ... what, his back?" Jason asked hopefully. Skye just nodded.

"Ah man, that's great.!" Jason looked across at the Star Ninjetti "You sure you're going to make it up the hill ... you don't look so good."

"Gee thanks ... you're no pretty picture yourself at the moment," Skye said, pushing himself up unsteadily.

Jason got up, looking at the artist suddenly very aware of what had nearly happened and what he owed him. "Skye...I....well..."

"That's okay, Jason...I know." Skye said, understanding. He put his hand gently on Jason's shoulder and met his dark eyes for a moment and then abruptly started up the slope in a limping stagger. Inexplicably unable to talk with a throat tightened by an upsurge of emotion, Jason caught up with him swiftly enough and the two of them began to scale the heights to the plateau.

~*~

"Right...If Tanya, Adam, Rocky and Kat and Justin stay here, the rest of us will go looking for Dulcea and Jason." Tommy said, organising the teams. He whirled suddenly at the rustle of underbrush behind him. 

"No need, young Falcon," Dulcea said, stepping out alone. 

The entire group of humans felt their hearts stop and stomachs freeze in dread. She was alone, that could only mean that Jason...and Skye ... were probably dead. Tommy clenched his fists, hiding the growing hurt inside.

"What is it?" The First Warrior of Phaedos asked, seeing their stricken looks. "Oh...oh! Jason and Skye are following on behind. Jason informed me I had to return to make sure that you were all fine and the Temple intact. I have to say that I am surprised that it is. How was this possible?"

The tension drained out of the group at the news. "It was Rocky," Kat said proudly, looking over at the Red Ape Spirit Warrior. "He encapsulated the Temple in a shell of that Spirit fire and held it until we could return from our quest to help him."

Dulcea arched one elegant eyebrow. "The _kungsea_...a Power of the Red that requires great discipline and energy. I am impressed. It was well done, Rocky of Earth."

Rocky blushed in his embarrassment as Kat practically glowed next to him.

"Now what else has occurred in my absence?" Dulcea asked and the group of them filled her in on the reports from each of the Home Planet. Her frown became more and more pronounced as their recitation continued. She in turn describe the battle against the Nid-hi pair and the group of Rangers paled when they realised how close they had actually come to losing one of their own. It brought home to them the seriousness of this situation

"Man, if Skye hadn't been here..." Tommy began, half to himself and then stopped as two familiar figures broached the edge of the Temple. Jason he would recognise anywhere, and Skye was...well, there weren't too many like him around with that white hair. To his surprise it was Dulcea who beat them all to assist Jason to a place to sit and rest. The girls exchanged triumph looks as Tommy slowed down, bemused. It was Kim however, who once again close to Skye felt that strange resonant link between them and knew how exhausted the Star Ninjetti was and how hard he was trying to hide that fact from the others.

"Sit down," she ordered in a low voice. "You may be fooling the others and even Dulcea, but you are NOT fooling me."

"Good to see you again, too, Kim." Skye said weakly, obeying her command as the Crane Ninjetti hovered over him protectively.

As the Earth Ninjettis hovered around their friends, Dulcea keyed in the communications code of Ayaho and within moment one of the Ayah Rangers answered. 

"Katape, I greet you, Ranger of the North. " Dulcea said formally to the White Ayah Ranger. "I must speak to the Ninjetti Spirit Warriors.".

Katape hesitated. "They bear many honourable wounds, First Warrior of Phaedos....I...I am not sure if they are... " 

"Yes we are," Billy's voice interrupted out of sight. He moved into focus with Trini, both of them looking pale, but his eyes were clear and focussed. He looked immensely relieved to see Dulcea and then Jason and Skye in the background. "They didn't get you... thank god they didn't get you..." he said quietly.

"If not for the courage and sacrifice of Jason, I would have fallen victim to them," Dulcea explained, looking warmly across at the Red Lion Ninjetti. "..and but for the intervention of Skye we would have also lost him." 

Billy glanced across at Skye. "He looks as bad as we feel," he said quietly. "Watch him Dulcea, he is very good at concealing his weakness." There had been more than one argument about that, particularly in the early days of their mission. Now both Billy and Trini could tell straight away when the Star Ninjetti had pushed himself to the limits.

"I will keep him here until I am sure he has energy to leave," Dulcea replied. "In the meantime, we have emergency measures to discuss." She summoned all the Rangers to attention.

"We have lost a battle...but not the war. The enemy has shown its hand and struck a blow to us at our very heart by taking the Council of the Wise. It did however fail to take me, which must to a certain extent create a flaw in their plans. It has become apparent that only the use of Great Power is at all effective against the Nid-hi...." Billy nodded, confirming this analysis bleakly. "I will alert the teams of Rangers to come to Phaedos immediately and quest for the Great Power. The United Alliance of Evil will have spent dearly on this all out attack and will require time to recoup their losses before trying to follow up on their advantage. In that time, Billy, Trini and Skye will complete the recruitment and reactivation of the Zords in the final sector of the Galaxy. When you reach Triforia, head back to Earth immediately. We will need a base of operation away from the frontline. I suggest Earth as the forces of the Darkness Visible will more than likely try to attack Phaedos as it did in the previous conflict and it is sufficiently out of the direct line of fire to make it secure. "

Tommy interrupted. "The Power Chamber was destroyed...when the Nid-hi took Dimitria. By the sounds of it that was the pattern across the galaxy." He sighed to himself. There should have been something they could have done, some way of foreseeing this disaster.

Billy and Trini were having a quiet muttered conversation as their images danced in the flames. Eventually the Blue Wolf Ninjetti spoke. "I did draw up plans for a new, expanded Power Chamber back when...well, you know," he said awkwardly. "But they were on the Power Chamber mainframe...which is destroyed." 

Skye shook his head. "Jason, remember those CDs? With all of Billy's inventions and plans on them?" The Red Lion Ninjetti nodded, thinking back to the night when they had first received the Ninjetti warning. "Well, I gave them to Billy's father. It is in a password-encrypted file. I'll give you a list of the passwords..." 

Billy looked surprised. "You never mentioned anything about that to me!"

The Star Ninjetti smiled. "I can still surprise you, then... that's good to know." 

"Well, in that case," Billy said, looking more animated. " If you load the plans into one of your Zords systems, the Superzebeedees will begin constructing it, and will produce enough of their own kind to make it and run it...!" They all brightened at this news. A Ranger of any kind without a Power Chamber of sorts felt as if they had lost their home away from home.

"Good. When we have regained our equilibrium again, we will see about making a strike of our own to retrieve what is ours!" Dulcea said forcefully to the determined nods of agreement around the Temple. This galaxy wide series of abductions would not go unanswered!

"Now you, Blue Wolf and Golden Tiger, take time to heal. You will not benefit anyone if you push yourself too early to do too much. Talk now with your friends and we will communicate again soon." Trini nodded and the Rangers from Earth crowded around, eager to talk to their friends once again.

~*~

It was inevitable in some ways that the human Rangers dealt with the devastating blow that had been made to all Power Rangers across the Galaxy by turning their focus towards each other rather than the overwhelming task facing them. When the shock wore off they would have to deal with the enormity of events, but for now there was a particularly distracting piece of personal news that was producing as much astonishment to some of the Rangers as possibly the first time they had seen Zordon. Adam and Rocky were standing with their mouths open in expressions of amazement, as were Zack and Tommy. Justin was laughing quietly as they stood huddled in a group with the couple at the focus of their attention sitting a ways off from them, talking quietly.

Tommy shook his head. "Dulcea and JASON?" he said in a disbelieving hoarse whisper.

Kim slapped his arm with the back of her hand. "You guys are _so_ blind sometimes! I told you something was going on."

Tommy shook his head slowly. "But....Jason and DULCEA?" repeating himself once again.

Adam looked at Tanya, who nodded. "Oh yeah...sorry, they might as well have had neon lights on their heads."

"Strobe neon," Aisha added helpfully.

Kat suppressed a chuckle at the boys' expression. "It must be a genetic thing...something only women can see."

"Ahem...Are you implying something?" Skye said, looking up from where he was sitting with a smile.

There were a few amused coughs from the various Rangers. "Ah well, Skye...you are an exception to a lot of rules," Kim replied in a low voice.

Tommy shook his head. "Jason and Dulcea? I mean...she's, well to say she's an older woman is like saying Goldar was a bit ugly."

Kat spoke up. "You're just mad because she floored you so easily when you first came to Phaedos," she needled, smiling sweetly.

Tommy protested amid the others' fits of stifled giggles.

Rocky shrugged, looking over at the couple, the object of their discussion, silhouetted against the alien sunset. Time to do what Skye had told him was his speciality, lighten the gloom and bring them together in laughter. One moment of laughter before the Darkness arrived and nights' swift dragons once again cut loose among the stars.

"Well, I for one think that they are made for each other," he said guilelessly as he watched the Owl Ninjetti take the Lion Ninjetti's hand in a tentative intimacy. He began with a wicked half smile. "After all, they already have a song and a movie ready made for them..."

Tommy groaned with an uncanny premonition of what the Red Ninjetti was about to say. "I'm going to regret this, but....what movie and song?"

Rocky put on his most innocent expression and said triumphantly, "The Owl and the Pussy Cat!" 

### End

* * *

**__**

Authors Note: Many, many thanks to Dagmar for beta reading for me. Because of her you have been saved from punctuation mistakes the likes of which would horrify any sane reader!

* * *


	12. Spirits' Knife

**__**

Disclaimer: As always nothing even remotely related to the Power Rangers is mine, but anything else I made up so I guess I take responsibility for those things. This is the...er...eleventh in the series and by now you are probably going to be really lost unless you've read some of the others! We are now reaching the point where normal PR continuity is so far out the window it could be anywhere, so sit back and enjoy!

### Spirit's Knife  
by [Peregrine][1]

__

"He hath awakened from the dream of life -  
'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep  
With phantoms an unprofitable strife,  
And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife  
Invulnerable nothings"  
  
P.B. Shelley

Adam, Black Frog Ninjetti Spirit Warrior sat at his computer desk, resting his head on the keyboard - entirely by accident, of course.

"Adam!" Tanya shook his shoulder. There was no response. With a wicked smile, Tanya leant down and whispered in a throaty voice, "Oooooh, Kermit? You going to wake up for me...?"

"Mmmm." Adam stirred. A dark brown eye opened suddenly. "Did you just call me Kermit?" he mumbled, shaking the sleep from his eyes and head. It felt like it was stuffed with candyfloss, tangling his thoughts in sticky fluff.

Tanya put her hands on her hips. "Oh yes."

"But I hate that!" Adam protested, waking up a little more.

"Well, you shouldn't work so hard that you fall asleep on your keyboard. Give it a rest, Adam." Tanya said sternly, looking the Frog Ninjetti over with an appraising eye. He looked tired, and that was a generous assessment of his condition.

"I can't ... I haven't solved the problem yet!" Tanya gave a snort and he continued defensively. "You don't understand, there is NO way we can provide a base on Earth for the Ninjetti Zords." Adam shook his head. "Five or six ... maybe ... hundreds of thousands? It can't be done ... But we need _SOMEWHERE!"_ hHe said loudly, the force of his statement betraying his frustration.

Tanya sat down with a sigh. It was going to be one of _those_ conversations.

As the enormity of what they had committed themselves to gradually sank in, they had begun to work themselves into the ground trying to find ways to _make_ it work. They had all quit their own personal ambitions and careers, and in a strange move ended up "officially employed" by Hank Cranston, Financial Director of WolfTech . It came as a mild shock to all but Jason, who had been working for Billy's father for some time anyway, that the WolfTech computer technology that dominated the computers of the world originated from a very familiar source. Based on the success of a single nanochip design taken from the device Billy had used to switch his and Kimberly's consciousness, Hank Cranston had produced and marketed the nanochip whose revolutionary design had caused a new phase in computer technology. WolfTech nanochips were in EVERYTHING. The rights to them had been purchased by a worldwide computer conglomerate that had then gone onto wipe the floor with the competition and a royalty was paid to the subsidiaries of WolfTech for every nanochip produced. An ultra-nanochip upgrade was purchased by the military, and as a result, Mr Cranston had access to a great deal of monetary resources and contacts that could get hold of some of the more bizarre materials they required. This proved invaluable after Tommy downloaded the specifications of the New Power Chamber into the mainframe of FalconZord. The SuperZebeedees were efficient and resourceful, but they could not construct things from thin air; and there were some things that could not be scavenged which had to be purchased discretely.

The new complex was going to be huge, but try as he might, Adam could not see a way that it would take the massive amounts of Ninjetti Zords that would convene for meetings, or for repairs away from the front line. He had promised the others to come up with an answer before tomorrow morning and here he was at ... 3.00am! ... and nothing.

Tanya massaged his shoulders gently, wincing herself as she felt the knots coiled in his muscles. "Just relax a moment," she advised. "You can hardly think straight with all the stress. A breath of fresh air might clear your head." She opened the window and Adam joined her, looking out at the silent stars.

"I wonder how Billy is now?" he murmured softly. They had all been worried about Billy and Trini after the wandering Ninjettis' attempts to stop the abduction of Takope of Ayaho had ended in some injuries, despite the Wolf Ninjetti's assurances that they were both fine. The delight at seeing him had very swiftly indeed become shock at what had happened, and Adam knew he wasn't the only one wondering what other experiences had marked their friends so deeply.

"I'm sure he's fine. All three of them will be heading back home soon," Tanya responded, divining his mood.

"I've missed him," Adam said simply, looking out at the moon bright and cold above them. "There's been a gap in my life waiting for him to come back home. Waiting all this time." He gave a sigh. "There are some friends you just can't say goodbye to."

"I think that goes for most of us, Adam." Tanya said softly, brushing some of his now long-again hair away from his face. This was a familiar situation. Jason and Billy might be like brothers, but Adam and Billy were the type of friends that even if they didn't speak for a long time, when they did again all time apart would vanish. Tanya knew that Adam thought of his genius friend more often than he ever said to anyone.

"The stupid thing is, I am sure that Billy would see the answer to this straight away," Adam said with a sigh.

Tanya shook her head."You don't know that. Fighting Rita and Zedd and the Machine Empire was nothing like taking on a massive fleet. It's an unknown situation; Billy probably would have the same difficulties we do. This is a major undertaking we are involved with here."

Adam gave a low chuckle. "Rita and Zedd's attacks seem so ... well, you know," he said with a laugh, looking out of the window up at the silvery orb above them. "It seemed that they had nothing better to do but watch us from the moon and ..." he halted suddenly.

"What?" Tanya said into the sudden silence as Adam seemed to be locked in thought, his thoughts turned inwards. "Adam? Have you an idea?" she asked with a cautious excitement.

"... All this time I've been looking for somewhere on Earth ... what about Rita's Palace? On the moon ... and the Machine Empire's base? Both deserted now, surely it wouldn't take much to adapt it?" Adam said, excited by the thought. The tiredness seemed to lift from him. "That _has _to be it! It makes more sense ... then too, there is no problem of the alien Ninjetti having to adapt to Earth's atmosphere!"

Tanya nodded thoughtfully, catching the mood of discovery. "And it means that we can still have a Power Chamber down here and make the moon essentially into a barracks and storage area ..." She gave a dazzling smile. "That, my dear Kermit ... is an inspiration!" She bent down and kissed him.

Adam smiled a half smile, his dark eyes amused. "Just wait until I find something to tease you about your Spirit Animal. Hmmm, you know I do believe that I read that the Oryx whistles through its nose ... care to give me a demonstration?" he teased.

"Why you...!" Tanya replied, half-laughing, threatening him in mock anger.

"Er ... maybe this would be a good time to tell the others about our idea," Adam said, shielding himself melodramatically.

"Lucky for you ... I agree," Tanya replied, smiling. "They are going to _love_ us getting them up at this time in the morning!"

~*~

Adam's idea had been an inspiration, but Jason wished they could have waited a little longer before rousting everyone to the meeting. Of course it had been deemed sensible that they check the place out before they made any permanent moving arrangements and expended time and effort in modifying the place. Still, as soon as Dulcea had volunteered, what could he do? His hand was raised straight away to join her, to the total astonishment of his mind that was telling him he had far too much to do to be going on a trip she could handle herself. His heart told his mind to take a running jump, and here he was ... in the middle of the night. Flying to the moon with Dulcea on the silent wings of Owlzord. One might even say it was romantic - if he could stop yawning long enough to appreciate it.

Dulcea tapped her finger distractedly as they made the trip to the Moon. She had barely seen Jason since their return to his home planet. Now she had heard the wisdom of the animal spirits, her decision was made, and taking action upon that decision should be done immediately! Not waiting and waiting ... she was good at waiting, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Besides ... .she had been alone a long time alone, and who knew what lay ahead? How many of them would survive the coming Darkness, if any? She rubbed her arms absently as the thought raised prickles on her flesh.

And more to the point, how often was she going to get Jason alone between now and then? Not often enough, that was for sure, she thought with a mental scowl.

Her owl spirit trilled comfortingly. _"Lions are not used to chasing."_ it said slyly. _"They are used to showing their worth and prowess and having their mate come after them."_

"But that doesn't work often!" Dulcea replied._""Not with humans ... lions, maybe."_

"That does not stop the instinct. You can see through the darkness," advised the Owl. _"This explains why he has been so alone until now, until you. "_

"So I have to ... seduce him?" Dulcea asked, mortified.

The Owlspirit chuckled, clacking its beak. _"Just point him in the right direction. Lions are very direct when they realise what has to be done."_

Dulcea smiled to herself. _"Oh, I do hope so ..."_

~*~

They landed at the deserted palace on the moon, its forcefield shield fortunately still intact, leaving the inside habitable. The two Ninjetti stalked around the eerie shell of Rita and Zedd's empire cautiously and inevitably made their way to the desolate 'throne room'. Shadows hung in the musty air like drifting smoke whilst strange and twisted debris lurked in hidden corners. The throne room was a contrast of hideous, dark gothic architecture and amazing beauty as the glowing orb of Earth hung in the dark, star-bejewelled sky, above the silvered stark desert landscape of the cratered moon. Jason was drawn inevitably to that same balcony where Rita and Zedd had stood, coveting the dominion of the planet before them and had plotted day after day to destroy them all. Seeing the Earth spinning silently there, he could understand at least its desirability. He stood staring out into space, protected from the vacuum by the invisible forcefield. An indefinable longing rose up in him as he gazed upon the Earth rising over the lunar landscape.

__

My home. It filled him with a great sense of purpose to see it there, a fragile sphere of beauty against the vastness of space, needing to be preserved, protected.

Dulcea silently came up behind him. "It's beautiful," she said, her voice echoing in the empty chamber, whispering in the shadows. Jason turned, looking straight into her emerald eyes which were touched by the soft blue of earthlight. Again, the sight of her was suddenly as breathtakingly amazing and, he realised, as important to him as seeing his home from space.. He found himself smiling, his dark eyes having having mirroreded the light of the stars, untarnished by the atmosphere of the Earth, in their depths.

Thoughts raced through his head. _"Say something ..."_ his lion spirit prompted, rumbling with good humour. _"You love her. It is time."_

"As beautiful as you," Jason said simply and was rewarded with a glowing smile.

"Well, it's not exactly the most romantic, or poetical declaration of affection," Dulcea mused, brushing back her long auburn hair. "But I have been alone for millennia, Jason, without knowing I was waiting for you.." Her eyes had an almost predatory glitter and need showed in her every movement. "There have been nights with my only companion the lights of the stars and the touch of the moonwinds over the Temple. I had given up hope, thinking that love was denied me, only to turn and see it spring afresh into my life just as the wave of Darkness towers over us. Do you know how precious that is? A light kindled in the darkness?"

"Dulcea ... I ..." Jason gulped, incredibly moved by those words. "I wish I knew what to say. I was never good with words. I act rather than speak." Indeed he had begun to find the frustration of all talk and no action at the Peace Conference unbearable after a while and found the intricacies of diplomacy something which, though he knew it was important, did not mesh with his personality.

Dulcea quirked a smile. "I could stand some communicating without words," she replied in a voice barely above a whisper, leaning in close, her eyes locked upon his as they drew together. Jason found himself moving towards her, leaning forward as if pulled by a strange attractive force. Words were hollow and empty compared to the feelings he was experiencing, and he could not express what he felt in any other fashion than leaning forward for their first true kiss. A tingling brush of their lips spoke more than verses of the sweetest poetry of the tenderness of his feelings towards her; the light touch of his powerful hands cradling her head, and stroking her cheek and running down her neck, drawing shivers of need, announced the way he would protect and keep her safe, in a way that no spoken word ever could. A fire of certainty awoke in the warrior woman's heart, and she leaned into the kiss fiercely, the deep embers of passion so long unstirred flaring into bright vivid life. Jason found tenderness transmuting to passionate desire and responded with an equal intensity from a longing and a need that surprised him with its force.

"Together ..." Dulcea murmured, breaking for air briefly., "And our spirits have waited long enough to be joined.." She leant back, staring at the gleaming orb of the Earth, not seeing it as Jason nuzzled her neck delicately before claiming her mouth in another passionate kiss.

~*~

He sat bound with darkness. He could move, he could breathe, there was no hunger, thirst or tiredness tiredness, but there was also no way out. He was trapped within his own shadow. His latest quest, his mission to locate the abducted mentors had been followed with his customary diligence. He had trawled the whispers of the galaxy, listened unseen in the darkness, with the utmost stealth had stalked a thread of rumour and half-truth ... and had found them.

They were all there, the Council of the Wise. Trapped, locked in the dark, about to be moved to another location. He had no time, he had to try and free them there and then without backup. Not unusual for him. Ghosts work alone, after all.

He had phased in and tried to release them and enlist their help to move Zordon, still trapped in a transdimensional warp. It had been going well; in hindsight too well. He had freed them, they were getting out unseen. He had taken care that none had detected him going in, so they should make it out if they were careful. And he _was_ careful. Ghostlike, he lead them through the tunnels and the secret ways of that cleverly-concealed base.

And then ... they walked into an ambush. He had fought the Nid-hi, but his Powers could not touch them.

__

Could not touch them.

They had danced like dragons around him, mesmerising in their deadly grace, and he had fought with the shadow-power, the ruby flaring with the Power, with battle fire -- but they had taken him. He had looked around at the recaptured Mentors and had _known_ as he had tried to phase into nothingness, to disappear into the night to return and try again ...

__

One of them betrayed us all!

He didn't want to think it, but only one of the Council of the Wise knew how to counter that most secret part of his abilities, the phase shift, they being the creators, the saviours of his life for all these millennia. The Nid-hi had known this; too well, too easily, and as he tried to phase out of synchronicity, they had bound his energy in around itself. He was trapped within a web of his own shadow, phased out of the normal universe, unable to contact anyone, to tell anyone where he was, what had happened to reveal that potential traitor at the heart of the Forces of Light.

__

He had been betrayed.

There was no other explanation. He shook his head . He had given them his LIFE; it was _not possible_ that this could happen. They had given him a purpose more honourable than any other, they had given him a way to wreak vengeance for his long-lost love's death at the hands of Evil ages ago. Before now, he would have said there was none that he would not die to protect, as was his mission.

And he had been so predictable. He had done exactly what they expected. He had followed the trail ... alone. He had found them ... alone ... and then he had been trapped and silenced ... alone.

Why hadn't the Nid-hi destroyed him?

__

Why had the one of the Wise betrayed them all?

A traitor ...

The Phantom Ranger pulled at the edges of his shadow-webbed prison, roaring into the silence of phased atoms in frustration. He had to warn them, this was the culmination of the strivings of Light and Dark, and here he was trapped in shadow. He could move, he could see beyond the inverted energies that formed his bubble prison, but he was literally like the phantom he had taken as a Ranger name. But even ghosts were sometimes heard ... weren't they? He would find his way to one who would hear him, who had recognised his presence even when he had been phased before. He began to make his way to stow away on a vessel away from here, out towards somewhere where he might encounter her, the one he sought.

__

I need you, Cassie;, this time I really need your help.

~*~

"You think they are alright up there?" Kat asked as they monitored for the OwlZord from the nearly completed new Power Chamber.

Rocky shrugged, leaning back with his feet up on a console, drinking some soda of indeterminate flavour. "Sure they are," he said flippantly. "We would have heard something otherwise."

Kat still looked worried. "You don't know what that place is like ... it ended up with levels even Rita and Zedd didn't know about ... and ... _things_. Creatures that escaped from experiments, half defeated monsters ... they could have run into them," she said fretfully.

"How do you ... oh." Rocky stopped himself from going any further. "Kat, Rita and Zedd have been gone from there for years, there's no food or water or anything up there. Any sensible monster would have hightailed it out as soon as they could. Though, considering what Rita's monsters were usually like ... maybe it _is_ worth checking." He poked at a few buttons. "Rocky to Jason ... Jason, come in."

There was silence.

"Come in, Jason ... Jason, it's Rocky!" he continued, getting more urgent in his summonses. Still no response. Rocky frowned. "Okay ... we go after them ... Kat, are you ..."

."... Jason here. ..What?" they were interrupted by Jason's abnormally abrupt response over the communicator.

"Just checking if you are okay, bro," Rocky replied, relieved. "Not run across any nasties, have you? When you didn't answer, we thought you might be in trouble."

"No ... no..." Jason's voice came hurriedly. "Just was, er ... enjoying the view." There was a low chuckle that was barely audible over the communicator, and Jason seemed to suddenly have a fit of coughing.

"The view ... right ...." Rocky said, suspicions leaping to his teenager mind. ."Nice, is it?"

"Oh, beautiful ... like nothing on Earth,." Jason answeresaid, his voice tightening a bit at the end as if he wereas being distracted.

"Hmmm ... Well, the place is okay, isn't it? What you have seen of it?" Rocky added lightly, slightly looking meaningfully across at Kat who was trying to suppress her giggles.

"Oh yeah ... yeah, it'll be great," Jason reported absentmindedly. "We'll be back in a little while - we just have a few more levels to ... explore."

Rocky nearly choked. "A few more levels ... Okay, Jase, we'll see you back here when you are done," he said, signing off, and once he had closed the connection he turned and looked at a faintly blushing Kat. "You think they were?"

Kat grinned broadly. "Absolutely! I HAVE to tell Kim about this ... they are going to flip! Jason and Dulcea making out in Rita's palace!"

"The mind boggles!" Rocky agreed. "Wow ... I never thought of Jason being like that ..."

Kat smiled sweetly. "People can surprise you," she said, kissing him unexpectedly. She broke off. "I have GOT to tell Tanya now!" she repeated, hurrying off.

~*~

Jason looked up into Dulcea's eyes. "You think they knew?" he asked, switching off the communicator.

"Maybe." Dulcea said contentedly, brushing his hair back with his fingers. "But it lay in their thoughts as long as it did in ours. Why does it matter when the seed is seen to germinate?"

Jason grinned. "I feel like a biology experiment when you talk like that."

Dulcea's eyes sparkled. "A fascinating biology experiment at that ... but we have some levels to explore first." She pushed herself up.

Jason looked disappointed. "You mean ... really?"

"Yes, really..." She quirked a smile. "Mind you, OwlZord has an autopilot function for the trip home."

The Red Lion Spirit Warrior's eyes lit up. "Well then, Duty first ... but no-one said it didn't have to be quick!" he said, bounding off to scout the Palace with enthusiasm and speed, slowly followed by a chuckling Dulcea.

"Most definitely direct when he is pointed in the right direction," she murmuredsaid to herself. "And so many directions left to point him!"

~*~

"After this system Triforia, and then ... home!" Trini said with a smile of pure delight.

Billy smiled, his expression brightened out of weariness. "It's been so long; I've missed everyone so much," he said quietly. "Skye? What is the name of this planet? " he asked absently.

"Chlorak, according to the Ma'rai sphere." Skye answered, yawning. "A part of the Old Ninjetti Alliance. Now, deserted and uncolonised. The ancient Ninjetti Zords are located on the Southern land mass, but there is no sign of any potential Ninjetti," he replied, picking distractedly at his white hair.

"Skye, stop that ... you _know_ it drives me mad!" Trini said, throwing a pencil he had been sketching with at him.

"Worse than Billy's tendency to borrow your hairbrush?" Skye neatly deflected the flying object.

"Oh come on, you didn't have to pull _me _into this!" Billy protested. "At least I don't sketch over our star maps."

"No, but you do leave at least an inch of drink in EVERY cup!" Trini shot back and then laughed as Billy began to splutter.

"Hey, it's not my fault if I ..."

"... get distracted before it goes cold," Skye and Trini chorused.

Billy frowned seriously and then abruptly stuck his tongue out at the pair of them with the air of a college professor trying out a new technique. The effect was so comical that Skye nearly fell off his chair laughing, and Trini had to clutch her sides to stop them from hurting with laughter.

"Hmm ..." Billy said as if about to lecture a seminar. "Thus we see demonstrated the effects of three people being in a confined space for too long where even a basic childish response generates an abnormal level of hilarity."

Skye heaved a cushion at him rather wildly as he picked himself off the floor. "That's cruel, Billy ... no one would suspect you of having an evil sense of humour!"

Billy ducked the flying object easily. "What do you mean ? I'm perfectly serious," he protested. "I can't help it if you find me amusing when I am stating facts!"

He turned with a wicked twinkle in his eye, and began to exaggeratedly talk into his communicator. "Captain's Log, stardate ... sometime in the middle of September possibly ... could be May actually, thinking about it. Experiencing a great deal of flying debris on the bridge of Wolfzord ... My companions are incapacitated by some mysterious effect that leaves them incapable of taking anything I say seriously and are therefore in grave peril of the flying debris themselves."

He stooped and flung the assorted items the other Ninjetti had been pelting him with right back at them. Trini and Skye ducked, laughing initially, but then Billy scored a direct hit on Skye's head because he suddenly just froze in place, staring at nothing.

"Oops, sorry, Skye." Billy approached to make sure he was all right and all frivolity faded. He recognised that sort of expression on his friend's face. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently.

"I thought I felt ... humans down there," Skye said. They were about to swing past the planet, the Super Zebeedees having been dropped from orbit.

"Ninjetti? Potential Ninjetti..?" Trini asked, tying back her silky black hair.

"I thought it felt like humans ... humans with Power." Skye shrugged, as they became all serious again.

"I'll take us into the atmosphere, see what is going on," Billy replied, and Wolfzord turned and leapt down into the atmosphere towards the rolling Plains of Chlorak.

The Star Crystal burned with light as the white-haired Ninjetti focussed as they drew closer to the surface. He opened his eyes suddenly, the grey-blue silvered with the reflection of the light. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh is not good," Trini replied. "Define uh-oh."

"Uh-oh as in, there _are_ humans down there and there's are an awful lot of ... negative energy there, too," Skye replied. _I recognise that energy pattern,_ he thought. "Darkonda ... and ..." It wasn't QUITE Maligore, but very close indeed. "Some other very powerful beings," he temporised.. "I could be wrong, but I think they are in trouble."

"If that Darkonda being is there, I'm sure of it!" Billy exclaimed, on battle alert between one instant and the next. He remembered their encounter on Drakan with an internal shudder. "We'll take TigerZord in ..." he said, taking Skye's warning of 'very powerful beings' seriously.

They transferred to the larger, more heavily armoured Zord and Trini guided her Zord in with surprising stealth whilst Billy and Skye mentally and visually scanned for further information.

"There... visual lock!" Billy announced. On the wide open plains of swaying blue-tinged grass, two groups were meeting. A group of six Rangers in unfamiliar armour, standing opposite a group of metallic-looking creatures, the black and red- beclawed figure of Darkonda, and a strange black crystalline creature, gleaming with green shimmers on its facets. There was a hooded white-robed figure standing back in the background and dominating it all ... there was a Lava Monster ... a familiar form to Billy. "But that ... that looks like Maligore!" he said, astonished.

__

"Not that Enemy, but of his Pack," advised his Wolfspirit, on battle alert.

"I know ..." Trini said, her Tigerspirit growling inside her mind in warning. "But what are they doing?"

The Red Ranger stood forward and said something, and then demorphed. The group led by the monstrous Magma Lord brought forward a young woman, beautiful if not for the cold light in her eyes. At a signal, a device was disconnected around her head and she seemed to stumble a moment and then fall into the demorphed Red Ranger's arms. That they knew each other ... cared for each other, was obvious ... and equally obvious was the fact that they were going to be double-crossed any moment. Billy groaned. Bargains with villains NEVER worked, never! The history of the Power Rangers had been littered with failed attempts and it always ended in a double-cross.

"Let's get down there," Billy suggested after a moment's silence. "Blue Wolf Ninjetti Spirit Warrior now!" he called, morphing into his Spirit Warrior armour, the eyes glowing a fierce blue. Trini followed suit, leaving Skye between them in his normal state. They exchanged a grim nod of acknowledgement and the team of Ninjetti teleported into action.

~*~

They landed a short distance from the brewing conflict, recognising the escalating tension even from their position.

Billy mindspoke to the others, indicating the Red Ranger and the young woman he held. _"I'll get those two - you go after the others,_" he mindspoke directly to Trini.

The Gold Tiger Ninjetti was gone like a streak of bright gold fire. _"Skye, help her out! Make sure she's alright!"_ Billy followed up, knowing he didn't have to ask, but doing so anyway.

__

"Like it's not likely to be the other way around," Skye retorted before turning to set off after Trini. _"Watch yourself, Billy, if he is like Maligore ..."_ he mindspoke, worry colouring his thought words.

__

"I only need to distract him ... go!" Billy reassured. _"Just long enough to free those two Rangers."_

Skye didn't look happy, but moved anyway. The grey-clad Star Ninjetti nodded, his white hair billowing out behind him as he produced a fair turn of speed even with his semi-crippled leg.

"You wanted Karone back. Now I have your powers in my grasp. You may have her for the short time that you live," Dark Spectre rumbled, raising his hand to signal the inevitable attack.

"No, you gave your word! Let her go!" Andros yelled in an angry demand.

"And why would I?" Dark Spectre asked, his gravelly voice rough with patronising amusement.

"You gave your word!" Zhane shouted, looking trapped, and Dark Spectre tightened his energy grip around Astronema. She eventually cried out, her ribs squeezed so hard they were moments away from snapping. Andros launched himself at the Magma Lord and took a blast from Darkonda that spun him backwards into Zhane.

"Andros! No!" The Silver Ranger grabbed hold of his fellow Kerovian, trying to protect his friend from further attacks.

Dark Spectre loomed over them as Zhane was also blasted, trying to cover the weakened form of his friend. "Both of you have plagued me long enough. You, Red Ranger, Silver Ranger, will die and Karone will become Astronema once more!"

"No..." Andros protested weakly, trying to push himself up from the semi-conscious form of Zhane shielding him but also pinning him in place.

Dark Spectre raised his hand and was about to finish them, when a blue-grey Wolf Warrior leapt over them from invisibility. The new attacker somersaulted, striking Dark Spectre with his feet, knocking the solid mass of the evil creature backwards. With a slash of spirit claws, burning electric blue, the pulsing red energy tying Karone shredded into tiny wisps of flaring light. Dark Spectre roared and the white-hooded figure that had been standing with a bored stance alerted to attention.

Silver-furred hands brushed back the cowl and focussed. "Dark Spectre! This one ... bring me this one!" She indicated the Blue Wolf Ninjetti with a purple gleam in her dark liquid eyes. "Forget these others!"

Dark Spectre grimaced. "I will not be denied my revenge!" he roared, wanting to turn on the other Rangers. "Ecliptor! Darkonda! Finish them!" He sent power to them both to swell them to enormous size. The ground rumbled as its power was sent into the evil creatures, expanding them to vastness.

The Silver Nid-hi sighed exasperatedly as the Wolf Warrior leapt to attack once more. "He is Ninjetti!" she said forcefully.

Dark Spectre's eyes glowed brightly. "Ninjetti?!" To have a despised Ninjetti in his grasp? They could keep Astronema ... if they survived Ecliptor and Darkonda's attack.

"Go ... get out of here!" Billy helped Zhane and Andros to their feet.

"Not without our morphers!" Andros shouted back, wondering who this warrior was. Not Phantom as he had at first thought, for all that he had appeared out of nowhere.

"Morphers, right ..." Billy said, checking on Trini who was taking on the full force of Quantrons and trying to tackle the enormous forms of Darkonda and Ecliptor alone. Who had the morphers?

That magma creature that looked identical to Maligore.

"Wolfshadow," he whispered and faded from view, blurring swiftly over, cloaked in invisibility to literally snatch the morphers from under Dark Spectre's nose. He blurred back into view, leaping backwards and throwing the handful of AstroMorphers to the tall white-blond-haired Rranger.

"Help her!" he yelled, indicating the hard-pressed Gold Tiger Ninjetti.

The pair of them limped across, dragging the unconscious form of the one they had called Karone with them, and Billy turned to cover their backs.

"Enough ... finish this!" Ilana said impatiently. "Dark Spectre ... this is an inefficient waste of time." Her tone was warning.

The Magma Lord harrumphed . "Very well ... Ecliptor, Darkonda, finish them before they morph ... now!" he ordered in a booming voice.

Billy glanced around, horrified. "No! Trini!... SKYE!! Stop them!" he called out in desperation, knowing that not even a Ninjetti of Trini's power could withstand a dual monster blast. Exactly what he expected Skye to do was debatable, because Dark Spectre took advantage of that moment of distraction.

The Gold Ninjetti turned in time to see, in slow motion, a sight that would stay with her forever. Billy half-turned and poised to leap towards her and then engulfed in a glowing fireball that exploded against him with terrific force as he was distracted by them.

She screamed without words, oblivious to the combined wave of destructive energy pouring towards her and the unmorphed AstroRangers from the monsters above them all. Skye grabbed the Star Crystal and instinctively flung a shield of psychic energy over them. He drew on the pattern of the Chi'iten defence, and the destructive energy exploded against it. The concussive force of the blast rebounded a ways, apart from where Skye was, as he had flung the shield over the others far away from him but not over himself. He was caught in the explosion and rather crudely ... blown up. The artist was lifted on a wave of destructive energy, tumbling through the air, his splash of white hair vivid against the billowing black smoke as the blue grass combusted around them all. The others were knocked unconscious, and Ecliptor and Darkonda were devastated as the backlash of their own attack hit them at point blank range.

Damaged by the unexpected return of their own destructive energy, the pair of them teleported away to join the others in a hasty retreat. Ecliptor paused as they were about to leave orbit, and with calculating foresight loosed a barrage of plasma torpedos at the orbiting DECA and the TigerZord.

"There ... that will keep you safe, my princess," he murmured. "You will be too late to come after us and there will be no need. You are saved. As some of us cannot be." With a heavy sigh, he turned to take his place once more in Dark Spectre's entourage. Unknown to him, Phantom - that silent prisoner in his own darkness - watched, more frustrated than ever before as they travelled inexorably away from the AstroRangers. At least they had not got her ... It was not like he _could_ have done anything to save her if she had been taken, and that might just have destroyed his sanity. Bad enough that they had taken one, even if it was not one of the ones he knew personally, but he was Ninjetti and that called to his past. If nothing else, he could bear witness to the Wolf Ninjetti's fate.

~*~

Trini groaned, coming around. Around her the seven humans they had disastrously tried to rescue were stirring, too. She shook her head trying to clear it, her hair in disarray, glancing around as suddenly the memories crashed in on her.

__

Billy turning as a massive explosion enveloped him, obliterating him in fire.

Oh god, no ... no! She looked around for him, seeking his presence with her eyes, her mind, as she got up dizzily, blood trickling from a scalp wound. "Billy! BILLY!" she called out desperately.

Nothing. No sense of him. Inwardly she began to panic. Ignoring the other strangers stirring around her, she began to limp around, searching frantically, using her Ninjetti senses and still finding nothing. Skye, Skye would find Billy. He had that deep bonding with Billy since Phaedos. He would find him.

She then looked for Skye belatedly, feeling guilty she had not before and caught a glimpse of a splash of white against the tall swaying grass of the plains that remained unburned by the fierce conflict. Skye's distinctive white hair stood out in the evening light as his form lay face down a little ways away from the rest of them, still and unmoving.

"Skye?" Trini called, running towards him.

__

"Skye!?" she mindspoke to him, sensing nothing. _No! not him too!_ She turned him over and looked at the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. She blanked a moment, wondering what to do. Billy was gone, Skye badly hurt. A shadow crossed her as she knelt there, her Tiger Spirit pacing deep inside her mind, preparing to explode.

"Hi ..." a female voice said next to her. "My name is Cassie ..." Trini turned her head slowly, the glimmer of the Tigerspirit's fire burning in her dark eyes.

Cassie nearly stepped backwards from the warrior woman, the hairs prickling on the back of her neck.. "Is he ... is he alright?" she asked as Ashley unsteadily joined her.

Trini suppressed an urge to growl. _Stop that, it was not them that made this happen,_ she said sternly to herself, clinging to control.

"He is badly hurt," she replied in a tight voice. "Have you seen my other companion?" she then asked.

The AstroRangers, now gathered around in a semi-circle around them, looked at each other with desperate expressions.

Andros knelt next to her. "He was hit point- blank by a blast from Dark Spectre .... I'm sorry," he said simply.

Trini stared at him blankly. "No ... no, there is no body ..." Trini said, shaking her head, denying the possibility of death. They had all been brushed with the dark-feathered wings of death before, all of them, but never spared a thought that those wings would bear one of them away.

"I am sorry," another girl said, approaching. "But he would have been vaporised; I've seen it before."

"How would you know!?" challenged Trini angrily, not prepared to accept that information.

"I used to work for him," Karone replied in a subdued voice.

Trini went rigid with utter denial and retreated from the whole concept. Easier to believe this woman a liar than believe Billy dead. "I must help Skye," she said, distracting herself, readying her mind. She may not be as good at this as Skye had been, but he had taught them how to do basic Ninjetti healing.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ashley asked softly, looking at this stranger sympathetically. They had saved them and yet in the process one of her companions had been killed and the other ... badly injured.

Trini shook her head. "I'm not even sure if there is anything I can do." Nevertheless she centred herself and balanced her energies before calling on the strength of her animal spirit to pour energy into her friend. The Power seemed to pour through and out of her into him, bringing him back from the brink.

She paused, gasping, and ceased, wiping her brow. "I don't know how Skye does that so often! He makes it look so easy ..." she said aloud. "Maybe it's the Star Crystal. Zordon always said that was a good amplifier, and powerful."

"Zordon?" Carlos interrupted suddenly, exchanging glances with the others. "What do you know of Zordon?"

"Zordon was our mentor," Trini said absently, dressing Skye's more visible injuries with practised ease. Another skill this sojourn in space had imparted to them all.

"You're from EARTH?" TJ said, astonished.

"Of course," Trini answered, surprised. "You are too?" Skye had said they felt like humans, but she hadn't realised he actually meant _humans._

"Yes!" Ashley exclaimed. "All except Andros, Zhane and Ast ... Karone here. We come from a place called Angel Grove, it's only a small town."

"But it's the home of the Power Rangers, yes, I know. I am Trini Kwan ... also from Angel Grove, and the Original Yellow Ranger, now Gold Tiger Ninjetti Spirit Warrior," she introduced herself briefly. How incongruous it seemed to be exchanging trivia when she had lost the most important person in her life!

"One of the Originals ... wow," TJ said in a mild kind of awe.

"So is ... was Billy," Trini added in an aching voice. "He was the Blue Ranger, the first one, then a Blue Wolf Ninjetti. He was the longest-serving Ranger one way or another. Even when he wasn't holding the Power, he remained as part of the team, invaluable. He even went to Aquitar a few times, and a few other places."

"That one?" Andros looked startled. "William of Earth? That was ... that was him? The one who solved the Hydrocontaminator War?"

Trini nodded silently, and Andros looked somewhat shaken. He swallowed a few times and then said, "What is it that you want to do?" he asked in a more respectful tone.

"As soon as I can move Skye, we are going after them," Trini replied, her face set with determination.

"Trini, look, I know you are hurting, but we can't do that ... not without reason!" TJ said. "You know the rules."

"Without reason?!" She turned on the group, her black hair in disarray, blood staining her head and face. "They have taken my life from me ... that's who he was! They have woken the Tiger and the Great Power and I shall show them how a Tiger dances when it is ready to die!"

To the group she seemed to be babbling incoherently, and they shifted uncomfortably.

"Look, Dark Spectre is too powerful..." Ashley began in an attempt to reason with her.

"And nowhere near as powerful as the foe we have been preparing to face," Trini said calmly. "You think Dark Spectre took the Council of the Wise, took Zordon?" she shook her head. "No ... that's not the case. He is ruled by another now, a greater evil, the Zha'Kha-rhee'aa. The Darkness Visible. I will face him..."

"Trini ..." Cassie prepared to argue, but was swiftly cut off by a forceful interruption.

"NO!" Trini exploded." The Rules were created by the Council of the Wise, but the Rules of the Ninjetti Great Power are written in the Spirit itself and one of its most compelling dictates is, Evil will not go unanswered!

"Why else are we all here?" Trini regained a form of calm, but her eyes still burned with Tigerfire. "As soon as we can move Skye and my Zord is fixed - then I will stalk Dark Spectre; to the ends of the stars, if necessary." Completely unconsciously, her lip curled in a slight snarl.

The group of AstroRangers backed away from the distraught Ranger slowly and went to make a camp where they were until DECA had at least managed to restore life support on board so they could work up there. Then maybe that could help them both, at least by getting Skye into the medi-bay.

"Whoa ... intense!" Carlos whispered as they sat down around a hastily-built fire.

"You can hardly blame her," Cassie replied. "I mean, losing not just one of your team, but the one you love..." Her thoughts drifted to a certain mysterious Ranger. Ashley on the other hand glanced very briefly across at Andros before looking down.

"If it truly was the Peacemaker that was destroyed, then it is a great loss," Andros said sombrely. "There are planets Allied to the Light that will mourn his death." He looked troubled and threw some more of the thick twig-like grass on the fire, sending up pungent clouds of smoke to the alien sky like a prayer of incense. He paused for a moment and then said, "We owe them to help her. Agreed?"

The shifting firelight flickered on six other serious expressions as, one by one, the AstroRangers nodded their willingness to go after their greatest Enemy even if it meant contravening the Rules.

~*~

They may not have destroyed the Astro Rangers, they may have let Astronema go over to the enemy but Dark Spectre's lava-filled eyes burned with eagerness and triumph. "A true Ninjetti ... at last! A chance to get back at the accursed breed!" He didn't quite rub his rocklike hands together, but if he had not been with the Nid-hi Chosen, he might well have succumbed to gloating.

"It is the Way of Order that chaos defeats itself and advantage can be taken of its random energies," Ilana replied in her sweet voice. It still astonished the Magma Lord that someone who had such natural grace and sweetness on the outside could be so utterly ruthless, calculating and cold, so much so it chilled even him - and with molten lava in his veins that was quite a feat.

She examined the limp body of the unconscious Wolf Ninjetti curiously. "He appears somewhat fragile, does he not?" she mused as if expecting something much more sinister.

"You wish him to be questioned?" Dark Spectre asked eagerly.

Ilana inclined her head gracefully. "He must be questioned about what he knows of the One, and if he is aware of the missing piece of information the Zha'kha-ree'aa requires."

"May I have that honour? Of interrogating him?" the Magma Lord asked tentatively.

The silver Nid-hi considered. "You may prepare him. I dislike the buildup to such things. Take him to the point of death. Then he will be ready for my questions."

Dark Spectre looked at her with a respectful glow in his fiery eyes. These Nid-hi were worthy Allies. They followed things through with an implacable fire and logic that swept aside opposition.

"As you wish, Ilana," he replied. "Take him to the main interrogation chamber. I will have him prepared for you by ... tomorrow," he promised. After all, he wanted his revenge, too, and a day would be more than enough time. _An hour was usually long enough,_ he smiled to himself. Ilana nodded and departed silently, leaving Dark Spectre to his amusements.

~*~

Billy woke in a darkened room, unable to see what was holding him immobile, just knowing that he was trapped. For all he knew, he could be tied in a sealed box, no air ... closing in, closing in ...

__

"I must be free..." panicked the Wolf Spirit in his mind. _"I must be, let me loose, get out of this place!"_

Billy struggled against whatever the restraints were in the pitch darkness, but he was too weak from his injuries to muster the energy required to break free. Darkness and silence ... so complete that Billy began to wonder if he had been blinded and deafened somehow. In the darkness he seemed to feel something, lurking, watching him as he lay trapped and vulnerable. In some ways he would have welcomed something just to bring respite from the uncertainty that plagued him. The Wolf Spirit was snapping like a wild animal caught in a trap. Senses alert to anything, the sudden unveiling of a presence in the darkness next to him filled his mind with a roar and a shock as keen as if a ghost had materialised next to him. He could still see nothing, just feel the presence of someone, something over him, his body tense and quivering in anticipation of what might happen ... or not ... or SOMETHING! Anything!

The Wolf Spirit whimpered, uncertain as Billy was, Ninjetti senses scanning for a shape to the darkness.

A sensation of something cold and sharp touched his chest, and Billy flinched as much in surprise as from anything else. It appeared to run lightly like a thread of ice across his skin and then vanished. A liquid warmth seemed to grow from the cold line, rising to a burning sensation. Instinctively he tried to thrash around wildly, seeking escape from the unknown in the darkness that had brought him pain. But nothing was there.

His breathing slowed again; then came a clamping sensation around his leg ... something needle-like entering in. As he focussed on the pain there, he gasped in shock as something dropped onto his face just below his eye that burned like acid, and then flinched as what felt like electric shocks convulsed suddenly down his side.

As if that had been a trigger, the onslaught continued, something new from every corner of the darkness, from every direction, touching every part of his body with pain and loathsome sensation. The gut-wrenching tickling step of something alive skittering across his face ... the coolness of sharp metal, periods of nothing, then a sudden attack of pain. There was nothing in this place except sensation and the darkness and new and inventive ways of inflicting torment. There were no questions, nothing except a growing conviction of helplessness and vulnerability in the timeless blackness.

__

They seek to beat you by removing any sense of control, Billy said to himself. _If you have no belief in your own control, then you will have no will left to break._ There was nothing to do but endure the onslaught and focus on not giving in. He had lived much of his life like that, reacting instinctively to the pain that circumstances had inflicted upon him, and had survived by making it HIS choice, his responsibility to deal with what was happening, not trying to control those things that he could not. The pain still existed, but that was all it was ... a physical sensation.

Eventually, a flickering fire appeared ahead of him, dazzling after his immersion in the thick darkness. Pulsing amber lines picked out a form in a fiery glowing relief.

The Wolfspirit growled. _Enemy of Spirit!_

Dark Spectre loomed massive over him, a flame dancing in his hand casting flickering shadows over the captured Ninjetti. For the first time he spoke. "Most enjoyable," he rumbled. "I am glad that you are not so weak as those who break in the darkness, merely for fear of the unknown. But you will break, Ninjetti ... you will. " The after-echoes in the room told of its size and comparative emptiness.

"My ally the Nid-hi ... wishes to question you." Dark Spectre leant in, the flame uncomfortably close to Billy's eyes, making the pupil of his right eye contract to a pinpoint speck. "She has questions ... how much do you know? Your resources, and other questions that she has not imparted even to me. You would do well to speak to me first, Ninjetti ... maybe then you would not have to hover on the brink of death."

"No," Billy replied in a cool, calm voice, as if refuting an illogical argument. "I will not answer your questions, I will not give you anything."

Dark Spectre laughed. "Foolish, foolish Ninjetti ... ah, your naiveté is refreshing. There is a REASON why I am the overlord of the Alliance of Evil ..."

"Under the Nid-hi ..." Billy pointed out astutely and noted the irritated flare of fire. Touchy subject then, good, something to work on.

"I have command of earth and fire, young Wolf Ninjetti. I can reach inside of you in a way you cannot comprehend, touch you with an energy you would not believe. There are none I cannot break ... none!" Dark Spectre spoke, his tone making those words a promise of what was to come.

The Wolfspirit snarled and snapped angrily. _"Pack-enemy!"_

"You will not break me!" Billy replied, trying to slow his breathing. "I have the strength of my friends to help me."

Dark Spectre's laugh reverberated like an earthquake in the room. "Your friends ... oh my ... your friends. I expect you are even now believing they might be coming after you, nurturing a tiny kernel of hope in your heart to keep you going through this? Oh, it is a truly wonderful thing I can do ... watch, Ninjetti ... watch what happened to your friends after you were defeated!"

A sphere of fire appeared before him, suspended in front of Billy's eyes. In it he saw images that he never wanted to see. A massive dual explosion over all of the rangers they had tried to save. A flash of white hair as Skye's body was lifted in the burst of destruction - a massive blast of energy and bodies sprawled everywhere ... the demorphed figure of Trini, blood all over her face, still as death ... oh god, Trini!

"See ... all dead. It's a tragedy!" The Magma Lord laughed. "You are all alone, Ninjetti. You cannot stand against a Master of the Great Power like the Silver Nid-hi!"

__

Master of the Great Power? There was more of the Great Power that could be used ...why hadn't Dulcea said ... or didn't she know? I don't care ...Trini's dead and Skye... I don't care .

Billy found suddenly that the fate of the galaxy was nothing compared to that fact. The only thing he could aim for now was death, to take away whatever secrets they hoped to glean from him. His mind resolved, he set about methodically trying to sabotage Dark Spectre's careful plans.

The Magma Lord took the cold look in the Ninjetti's eyes as a sign that his will was being crushed. "Well then ... What do you know of the Shahin Tara Zed?" he asked, leaning forward.

"Nothing," Billy said, truthfully as it happened.

"I do not believe you ... Prophecy speaks of it as the Ninjettis' main weapon against the Darkness Visible!" Dark Spectre roared. "You must know of it!"

__

Ironic really, Billy thought, _he is actually telling me more information than he is getting out of me._ He shook his head.

"You will speak of what you know!" Dark Spectre demanded. "Or suffer my Power!"

Billy remained silent and when the Magma Lord leant forward, he spat at him, the defiant gesture sizzling on the Overlord's lava-filled body.

Dark Spectre smiled, almost pleased at the excuse. "Well then ... you have stood the darkness outside, let us see how well you do with fire and shadow inside!"

He raised his chunky hands and with surprising delicacy appeared to be weaving, or plaiting, dark red and black energies together. They formed a mass of writhing tentacles of energy that began to slither, probing for entry into his victim's body, searing and burning as it wriggled obscenely in through the Ninjetti's mouth, tendrils crawling up his nose, in through his ears or just diving through flesh to nestle inside. Screams that were of course, unfortunately from Dark Spectre's point of view, somewhat muted.

~*~

A day after Dark Spectre had begun his interrogation of the Wolf Ninjetti, his enjoyment was mixed with irritation and frustration. No matter what he had tried, what he had done, all the techniques picked up over the passage of time that had other beings broken in hours if they were resilient, this one was not supplying him with the information he required. As a Ninjetti he had to know about the Shahin Tara Zed, he might even know about the Secret that the Silver Nid-hi was holding so close on behalf of the One. In the games of Power, this information could be vital! And yet, this pathetic human Ninjetti was clinging to that knowledge as if the fate of the universe itself depended on it. He gave a small rumble of wry laughter. Which, to be fair, it probably did!

"Your time will be up any moment, Ninjetti," Dark Spectre informed the quivering wreck in front of him. "I commend you on your resilience, though not on your intelligence. Ilana will be far worse than I, and she comes soon. You haven't broken, and I have broken many in my time."

Billy opened his eyes slowly. _If he had been asking questions I could answer, then I would have talked ... I would have babbled everything to make it stop. Too much pain, too much ... the damage inside ... but I cannot risk that I might ... no._ He made his decision.

"Maligore would have broken me ... not the likes of you .." he said in a voice barely above a whisper, not even sure the alien being would catch the words.

The Magma Lord froze. "What?"

"Maligore ... had me ... he nearly broke me in 5 minutes ... much more powerful than you," Billy croaked out. A crude ploy, but by the looks of Dark Spectre's reaction, eminently successful.

"My worthless brother? Trapped by pathetic furballs and locked on a backwater planet and you say he was _stronger_?! I'll show you real Power, Ninjetti! I'll give you a taste of the REAL Power I possess!" In a sudden rage, he blasted at the weakened body before him and Billy jumped spasmodically and then smiled as he felt his life drain away. He had won ... he had won ... he closed his eyes and began the long spiral into death and darkness.

It was perhaps unfortunate for him that Ilana chose this moment to come in to begin her interrogation. The silver-furred Nid-hi took one look at the scene and whirled on Dark Spectre, coldly furious.

"You fool! Embracer of Chaos! I told you to bring him to the _point_ of death, not to send him beyond the brink!" Ilana's purple-tinted eyes flashed with fire. Her silver mane swirled as she wheeled on the lava-veined monster. "Get out! You let this Enemy of Order BEAT you!"

Dark Spectre bridled. "This is not true! The only good Ninjetti is a dead Ninjetti! You have said yourself that they are corrupted beyond any use to the One!"

"And yet they hold information," Ilana snapped, practically incandescent with rage. "Begone whilst I try to undo this damage to serve my purpose!" She drew the Great Power to her arms and soft silver-furred hands, laying them on Billy's tortured body.

Dark Spectre stepped back. "This is a waste! He is Ninjetti, he should die! What do you need a Ninjetti for? I could not break him with pain..And I have broken all with pain before. He will not answer your questions ..."

The healing light spread, and then there was a faint rasping breath from the Ninjetti. Ilana gave a trill of satisfaction. "Do not presume you know my thoughts," she said, breaking off the healing connection as the laboured inhalations continued. "You should not assume that I wish to question this one ... when my aim is beyond your comprehension."

"Then who?" Dark Spectre rumbled, annoyed by the Silver Nid-hi's arrogant assumptions.

The Nid-hi held up a hand for silence and let a pulse of energy leave her hand. Like an invisible flash of lightning, it briefly illuminated the startled spirit form of Billy's Wolfspirit, glimmering with a glowing blue nimbus.

"This is the one with the answers. Not this dying host ... what do you call them? Humans ... Now leave. The Wolf and I have much to discuss," Ilana ordered imperiously. Dark Spectre was bemused, but obeyed. If she could make a Spirit speak where the body would not, then her Powers were far in advance of any other.

Ilana turned and looked at the Wolfspirit, called to his one by the Death Summons. Her amethyst-tinged eyes glowed. "At last ... I have an access to your spirit world."

__

"You cannot touch me," the Blue Wolfspirit responded, its eyes flaring azure. _"Not even now that I have entered this level to walk my young one to peace from this world to the next."_

"Oh, you underestimate me, Wolf. I CAN touch you ... this is one of the only times that you can be touched, if you know the way." Ilana began the summoning of her own Animal Spirit.

"You cannot leave whilst your young one lies dying ... and he will _remain_ dying. I have seen to that. And in the meantime, my Animal Spirit and I wish to question you." The air seemed to shimmer around her and superimposed over the Silver Nid-hi was a massive eight-legged arachnid.

__

"You stand before me, Blue Wolf ... I am the Spider that binds the world and fates of the universe in threads of Order," it said in an echo of the Nid-hi's voice.

The Wolf trembled. The Silver Spider was a powerful Spirit, and was joined with the Power of a Master.

It growled. _"Release my young one to death or life, Spider,"_ the Wolf demanded, eyes flickering azure fire once more. _"You should not be doing this. This is not the way of the Animal Spirits."_

"You speak from naiveté ... as in the universe, so it is on the Spirit Planes. The Order of Nature rules," the spider intoned.

The Wolf whimpered. _"You carry the scent of your young one's essence ... Who speaks? Spider or the Nid-hi?"_

"We are one." The Spider stepped forward with ghostly shimmering shape. The Wolf growled as the arachnid towered over him.

__

"Tell me of what the One seeks..." The spider advanced implacably.

__

"Never!" snapped the Wolf.

__

"You will tell me. I have the Power ... I will force you to speak."

"That is Forbidden!" The Wolfspirit backed away, and found itself unable to go any further. It tried to duck past the legs and found itself bound in Spirit webs.

__

"You will tell! Where is it? It is beyond the reach of the thoughts of the One. It was here when he left this area of the material plane."

"If you were truly the Spider Spirit, you would know that yourself; you would feel its presence trembling the threads of reality," the Wolf responded with a growl of defiance.

The silver mandibles of the Spider Spirit glittered like knives as it bent over the Wolf, seemingly filling the entire room. _"If your young one was a Master of the Great Power, then he too would not have to rely on the whim of your power; he would draw it from you and use it to control and order reality as things should be, not listen to chaotic ramblings and cryptic words. But the Ninjetti thrive on chaos and you never relinquish control, do you? That is not part of the teachings...If you would serve the purity of Order, Blue Wolf, ANSWER me! Where is it!?_"

The wolf snarled in defiance, pinned as it was. _"I will not tell!"_

"Oh, I think you will," the Spider hissed. _"...eventually."_

~*~

There was a fire crackling over to his right as he opened his eyes. Disoriented, he tried to move and was immediately informed by his body this was a bad idea. Very bad indeed. He mewled in a gasp as he inadvertently moved on the springy cushion of grass. But that pain was nothing ... nothing compared to the hacking raw grief emanating from Trini's emotions, unrelenting in their onslaught to his sensitive mind. He stiffened in a rictus of shared pain and loss, moaning aloud, drawing Trini close to his side.

"Skye ... just lie still ..." she said, kneeling next to him again. There was a terrible emptiness there, inside of her that filled him with dread as he sensed no glimmer of hope.

"Where's ... where's Billy?" Skye asked in a weak, contorted voice. Trini didn't say anything, but the Star Crystal flashed on his chest and .. .

__

Billy engulfed, obliterated by an explosion that enveloped and ripped him away from them as the powerful Magma Lord unleashed his power. The certain knowledge of his death ... the palpable despair and emptiness that crushed her golden Tiger Spirit, a black Dragon twined around the Tiger's brilliant fire, choking away its spirit.

"No ... no!" he protested, trying to deny the images burning in his mind. "Billy .... no .... please ..."

Trini held on to her facade of calm. "He is gone. Hold still ... I'm going to try and give you some more healing until you can heal yourself. " Her voice was brittle and clear. She laid her hands once more on him and pushed the energy deep into the levels of his body.

And it was then she felt something quite surprising, a soul deep love for her under that intense friendship energy that Skye shared with them when they linked. Even now, he had hidden that from them both, even now he still had his secrets. Her dark eyes widened and she brushed back wisps of white hair from his face tenderly as she healed him some more. She stopped eventually and said in a choked voice, "Oh Skye ... I never knew ... I never knew that ..."

"... I love you? Yes," Skye said with a bright sorrow in his eyes as he met her gaze.

The Tiger Ninjetti looked like she was grasping for support, for some sort of link to the real world.

"And I love you too," she said suddenly.

Skye looked at her with those intense blue eyes and shook his head slowly. "No ... no you don't, or at least no more than as a very close friend. Your heart belongs to Billy. I know that."

"But Billy is ... gone," Trini replied, unable to stop the tears starting to trickle from her eyes despite her determination to remain unaffected - at least outwardly.

"Even so ..." Skye said with such compassion, understanding and loss in his voice that it was enough to break her composure. "He will never be gone inside ... some things are forever. I know that."

"I'm sorry, so sorry ... I'd do anything to get him back." She bent over him, sobbing, clinging to him despite his physical weakness. "There has to be some way!. I would give _anything_ to have him back safe!" Trini's voice wavered, clinging to an impossible hope. She gripped Skye fiercely. "You saved the others ... you saved Kim, you saved Jason ... promise me you'll find a way ... PROMISE ME!"

Skye closed his eyes in pain a moment. "I promise ..." he whispered, forming the words of an impossible dream with his lips. A promise was a sacred thing; her demand tugged within him irresistibly. He could deny her nothing.

He could deny _Billy_ nothing ... He didn't know why he loved her ... why he loved him, too. Maybe it was because of how deeply they had mindbonded, maybe it was because he had needed them so much to replace the life that had been taken from him, but he did love her. Though it was not something he had ever said aloud, he loved him, too. The thought of having lost Billy filled him not only with the pain of personal loss, but with the overwhelming fear of the disintegration of that tenuous pattern that he sensed reaching out to the future. This couldn't happen, it just couldn't.

Trini was clinging to him as if he was all that she had left of Billy, a tiny fragment of that togetherness they shared and was rocking slightly as he lay there, unresisting. Strange though it seemed, she began a soft lyric haunting lullaby, to comfort herself more than her patient. In that moment she reached out emotionally to Skye, and for one brief moment he knew what it was like to be Billy in her eyes. It was a moment that he would treasure forever, but it tore away any chance he had of ever having something like that. They belonged to each other, and he belonged to them both. That was the way it had been, and nothing would change even if Billy was truly gone. For a moment, though, he let himself believe that emotion was for him, that song was for him as she held him. His expression became one of curious exaltation and deep loss as he was shown the reality of his dreams, and then in the same instant had the reality of its unreachable quality brought to his mind. He closed his eyes on his welling sorrow and vowed that promise to Trini and now to himself as the whispering lullaby carried him away into the darkness.

~*~

Skye woke with the vow branded fresh in his mind. He stood mechanically as all the others slept around him, awaiting the return of their Zords. He had healed enough to walk slowly, but his mind was not paying attention to his physical state. The light was the pearly grey and silver just before dawn that seemed to sap all colour from the world, leaving it shaded in ghost-shadows of reality where dreams could exist. He made his way from the camp and then stood reaching out to the alien sky for some sort of way to fulfill that spontaneous promise he had made. Sensing deep inside, he began to explore the rapidly diminishing possibilities.

Trini awoke. Light was starting to creep towards her and she pushed herself up and prepared to face another day without Billy. She was not sure she could. And she wanted to apologise to Skye - she had no right to ask the impossible of him. He took that sort of thing in deadly earnest ... wait a moment, where was he? There was an absence where he should be ... she looked around her, startled awake. Wherever he was, he shouldn't be moving, she could not lose him, too. One of the other Rangers with her awoke and, seeing her panicked look, came over.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked in a soft voice.

"Skye! I can't see him. He can't have gone far ..." Trini said, trying to think logically.

Carlos looked surprised that he'd been able to go ANYWHERE. "We'll look for him" he promised, rousing the others. A tired and bleary-eyed group started searching for the Star Ninjetti; the sun was rising when they finally crested over a small rise and saw the silhouette of a human figure standing, arms raised towards the bright new day.

"Skye!" Trini shouted. He seemed not to hear.

Strangely, the dark silhouette caused by the rising sun in front of the figure seemed to fade into a blue white light. A figure of light burning against light, the elongated dawn shadow of his physical presence vanishing in the effulgence. In a sudden strange moment, the blue-white starheart light consuming Skye seemed to bleed into the blinding fires of the sun rising in full strength over the Plains of Chlorak, and in that moment .... he was gone.

Trini stared into the sun, the naked emotional pain on her face obvious as its warm new rays touched her skin and body with a reassuring caress. Not him too ... not leaving her alone! No!

She stared into the alien sunrise, a tableau of emotional pain as the AstroRangers ran down to the spot, finding nothing but a small scrap of paper with one word on it.

"What does it mean? What just happened?" Cassie asked, sounding shocked.

"I honestly don't know ... it looked pretty final," Andros said under his breath. "Maybe she will know."

The group turned and took the bit of paper to Trini, who was still standing on the brow of the rise, staring into the dawn sky.

"I'm sorry, this was all that was left down there," Andros said, handing her the scrap.

Trini looked at the piece of paper, at first barely registering the word. "Promise," she whispered aloud.

Then, as suddenly as the day breaking, a sweeping realisation reached her. A look of hope and wonder lit up her grief-drawn features and she looked again at the point where Sky had vanished, this time with a searching gaze.

"What? What does it mean?" Ashley asked, seeing the dramatic transition in the Ninjetti's expression.

Trini looked at them all, her dark eyes miraculously given purpose and focus once more. "He promised to find a way to bring Billy back ... He has gone after him, and for him to have gone after him by teleporting like that ... must mean ... HAS TO MEAN that he could sense Billy was still alive!"

"But ... what was that ... how did he teleport?" Zhane asked, looking puzzled as he stood close to Karone.

"The Star Crystal and his own abilitiy." Trini shook her head, feeling guilty. "He shouldn't have done it ... he was hurt too badly, and a psi-teleport takes so much energy ... but he never backs out on a promise."

"So he's not going to be very... er ... strong when he reaches there?" TJ asked, frowning. _If he even reached there at all,_ he added to himself.

"No ... but Skye does not fight so much with his body as with his mind. His injured leg puts him at a disadvantage physically. Mentally however ... his abilities more than compensate," Trini said, automatically shifting her friend back into 'present tense' in her thoughts

"So how are WE going to know where they are?" The Red Astro Ranger asked, frowning also.

"The Star Crystal. It has a unique energy signal, only detectable if you know the exact frequency to look for. And I do," Trini answered, burning with fire to get moving after Skye and find her way to Billy. She paced, echoing her Tigerspirit in her head that was tailtwitching and eager for action.

"When will DECA be repaired?" she asked with a hint of impatience.

"At least another 12 hours." TJ said, expecting an explosion of anger. Instead, Trini just nodded. "I will try and hurry along the repairs of TigerZord, then I am going after my friends."

"We will go, too." Cassie promised impulsively. "Dark Spectre was with him, and that's who we're after."

The others nodded in agreement.

Unspoken was the communal thought that they owed the Wolf Ninjetti; and if indeed he did still live, then it was up to all of them to get him back.

~*~

Skye had sensed intently, feeling the faintest reaching out of pain from Billy calling to them both, an anguish great enough to span the vast distances between them. He had been right, he would have known if he was gone, someone who meant that much to him. He had written the word and then drawn the energy of the rising sun within him, channelled through the Star Crystal until his body felt like it would burst apart form the pressure... and then he had let it do so in a controlled fashion. He had thrown himself towards that tendril of calling, and the light had burned into a cold, cold night between the stars as he leapt. Following the thread ... following the light through that darkness he flew, atoms slipping through atoms, energy matrix sliding through space until he rematerialised in a real darkness, in the corner of a room where he had one sight and sound of a familiar scream before he collapsed unseen, undetected in the shadows.

~*~

The Spider Spirit hissed through its mandibles. The Spirit of the Wolf was near breaking. Just as had been written by the One, those of the Spirit Realm had little patience for material beings' frailty because they had not experienced it as a truth on their level. They understood it in an abstract way, and were rarely prone to direct injury. That would change in the Reign of Order.

__

"Where is it?" the arachnid persisted, its eyes glittering moonlight, touching blood.

The Wolfspirit whimpered, entangled much as Billy was. _"No ... no, I will not tell ...! You will not have it!"_

"The Darkness Visible shall have what was stolen," the Silver Spider replied coldly.

__

"It was never ANYONE'S ... it does not even belong to this level of existence!" the Wolf protested.

__

"And you think the One is tied to this level of existence? When he retrieves his right, he will ascend beyond the levels of body, mind and spirit ..." The Spider gleamed with the reflected zeal of its Nid-hi host.

The Wolf snarled weakly, bleeding a deep pulsing blue energy from his many wounds. _"I do not know of what you seek. It was hidden beyond the sight of the Spirits, beyond the reach of the Darkness Visible. It is gone from the reach of all of us."_

The Spider clashed its piercing mandibles a moment. _"There is no door that is locked without a key being created for its locking, which can also be used for its opening. A trail to hide treasure can be used to find it once more. Any thread of reality that is touched leaves its mark in the universe, and the eye can perceive its passing. Especially with an object of such power."_ It seemed to contemplate with implacable logic. _"Then it is such that this one is of no further use to the servants of Order. I will feed on your energy and then your Chosen will die alone in the night. Such is the fate of the servants of Chaos."_ It bent over the captured Wolfspirit to feed.

In the meantime, unnoticed, Skye had awoken, still weakened from his psi-teleport and instinctively knowing that some time had passed since he had stood before the sun, searching for life. His Star Crystal glowed red, warning him of the presence of an Enemy and shielding him from its presence. Even so he was shocked to see the Silver Nid-hi lying in a spirit trance not far from ... Billy.

"Oh God, Billy, what have they done to you ..." His friend seemed permanently trapped on the edge of death ... as if each painful breath could halt midway, interrupting Life forever. The wounds spoke their pain to the empathic Ninjetti, and Skye gave as much of a burst of healing energy into the system of his friend as he could, just to bring him back from that precipice of death, much as Trini had done to him. But Billy did not awaken. He should, but there was something missing. Focussing his awareness to another level, to that of when he spoke to and perceived the Animal Spirits, Skye was horrified at what he saw through those eyes. Billy's Wolfspirit, and his own Spirit for that matter, trapped by a monstrous Silver Spider.

Rage and anger suddenly filled him and gave him a strength he lacked on a physical level. Filled with a warrior fire like he had sensed in Tommy and Jason, he flung a blast of energy at the Spider Spirit, in a crude but effective distraction. In a tangle of flickering legs it tumbled over, and Skye swiftly freed the Wolf. A jolt of energy to the Blue Wolf saw it able to stand and snarl menacingly at its foe as they backed up next to Billy's spirit

Skye's spirit presence glowed brightly. The Spider Spirit turned to face him, coldly furious. _"You will not save him."_

"I have saved his body," Skye retorted.

__

"But without the Wolfspirit he will still die. And the Wolf is MINE. There is nowhere you can take the Human or Wolfspirit where I cannot touch them." The Nid-hi-controlled Spiderspirit seemed to gloat at that thought.

__

"There is one place." Skye thought swiftly. It meant making himself totally open and vulnerable to Billy, but if he couldn't trust him, who was there in the universe that he could trust?. He made the decision and with a strange inner knowledge knew it to be utterly correct.

__

" I have access to the Animal Spirit realms now," scoffed the Spider Spirit. _"There is none alive that I cannot walk into."_

Skye's presence smiled serenely. _"Aside from me; I have no Animal Spirit, and as such my life is a debatable issue. I have been unconnected with the threads that you bind the universe with for some time. If I take them into myself you cannot touch them!"_

The Spider seemed shaken. _"What you speak is not true! It cannot be!"_

You speak in pride of your perceived completeness and superiority. No-one can know everything, not even the Spirits, and I will make this a truth even if it was not before!" Skye shot back. His presence reached out to enfold Billy's presence in a welcoming embrace, and as if sucked into a vortex, the Ninjetti's essence swirled through a point of energy in the Star Ninjetti's chest. He looked at the Wolfspirit who without hesitation leapt straight at his energy form and burst inwards in a shower of azure and sky blue energy.

__

"No!" The Spider protested. _"I will find them! I will break into your mind. If your mind is open, then I will find a way in."_

Skye gave a wolfish grin. _"Try it. But humans shut some of their memories off even from themselves. And you try getting into one of them that I will not unlock myself!"_

"No!" The Spider loomed over the human form.

Skye turned and rushed to merge again with his own physical form, hoping he would have enough time and strength to save Billy's physical body whilst the Spider tried to get into those memories of his past he barely looked at himself, where he had hidden the essence of Billy and the Wolfspirit.

~*~

Billy and the Wolfspirit found themselves seemingly inside a normal house. The front room of a place. He turned and he could see Skye ... a different, younger Skye, his hair more grey than white, with a white streak that was starting to spread inexorably across his hair. He was talking urgently to an older woman.

"Mrs. Lojko, I KNOW what's been happening to Nadia, and Jo for that matter .... and to you. Nadia told me everything," he said in a low voice.

Billy looked at the Wolfspirit. _"I don't understand; what is this?"_

"I believe he has hidden us in the most protected area of his mind and spirit to protect us from the Nid-hi/Spider Spirit," the Wolf replied.

__

"His past...what he would never talk about," Billy realised._ "But what is protecting HIM from the Spider?"_

"If what he says is true," the Wolfspirit said in an unusually sombre voice, _"and he has no Animal Spirit, then the Spider cannot touch him. He only has to fear the physical dangers at this time."_

"Bad enough," Billy muttered, looking around at the strange scene. _"So until then ..."_

"We must remain here," the Wolf said, its eyes flicking over the scene nervously.

"I don't know what you mean," Nadia's mother said in a forceful voice, but at the sideways nervous glance of her dark eyes Skye knew he was right.

"Look, Nadia told me everything ... told me about what Michael does to you ... does to her and will start doing to Jo now she's getting older."

"You don't know ANYTHING!" Mrs. Lojko hissed in warning. "You're just a silly kid poking your nose into things that you don't understand."

"I am not a kid. And neither is Nadia; she's an adult, and one thing I will say is that she will start to make adult decisions if YOU don't take action," Skye warned. He and Nadia had talked and talked this through thoroughly and had come up with a plan.

Nadia's mother had gone white. "She mustn't leave ... if she leaves he'll kill her!"

Skye stared at the woman, that phrase catalogued by the silence of the room. "And if I thought for a moment you were speaking metaphorically, I wouldn't be worried ... but you're not, are you?"

Tears brimming in her eyes, the shorter woman shook her head. "There's nothing that can be done about it ...you don't know what he is like," she said in a bare whisper.

"I think I have a fair idea ... any man who would sit and watch TV whilst his wife was haemorrhaging lying on the kitchen floor, going into premature labour and make her crawl to the phone to call an ambulance for herself ... I think that gives a fair indication of the type of person they are." Skye replied, the anger in his voice evident.

"She told you THAT?" Nadia's mother looked appalled, not because it was made up, but because it was becoming apparent that there was nothing this strange teenager did not know. "It doesn't matter, we can't leave; we have nowhere to go ..."

"You have my place ..." Skye said. "I'm all alone there since the accident." His blue eyes were suddenly filled with an overwhelming loss as if something pushed to the back of his mind rose up like a monstrous form in front of him. "It would be fine," he said, swallowing a lump that had appeared in his throat.

"You've lost your parents, Skye ... Can't you understand I don't want to lose Nadia or Jo?" Mrs. Lojko turned suddenly as if angry with him for dangling a hope in front of them that would be crushed.

"Yes ... I can, which is exactly why I am offering to use my place as a hideaway until you can get somewhere safe," Skye answered. He needed to do something, he needed to be able to make up for the helplessness that he felt at not being there when his parents were killed; as if in some way by righting Nadia, Jo's and their mother's lives if he could he'd allay some of his survivor's guilt. It made no rational sense, but it made a strange emotional sense to him. He needed to be able to 'save' someone ... to make up for those he had been unable to touch.

Billy gasped slightly, recognising a similar urge in himself; why he had been unable to leave the team even when he was Powerless. He NEEDED to be able to save people, to protect them and help them, especially those he cared about as friends and relatives, to make up for the time he had been helpless and unable to save his mother.

The Wolf looked at him and licked his hand. _"You and he are not that dissimilar, my young one. The Wolf would have been proud to have him as well, but he is not of ours."_

Skye turned, unconsciously fiddling with his long hair in a nervous habit. "Besides," he said, saving the worst news until he had no further way of persuading her. "Nadia told me when she came for her art lesson that her teacher Mrs. Spencer saw the bruises on her arms today, and this time made her take her shirt off. "

Mrs. Lojko looked even more horrified than she had at anything else that had been said all evening. "No ... no, she won't say anything, will she?"

"Mrs. Lojko, she has to ... it's the law; if she suspects anything, she _has_ to say something to the police and the School Principal." Skye informed her, his tone intense as he leaned forward.

The woman sank down onto the plush couch. "Oh god, oh god, oh god ..." She rocked back and forth. "He'll be back tomorrow ... oh god ..."

"Will you come to my place? It's big enough and then the authorities can deal with it ... it'll be for the best," Skye coaxed hopefully.

"I don't see as how I have any other choice. " She ran her fingers through her dark curly hair. "You shouldn't get involved; you're only just 17 yourself, you're no match for him ..."

"By the time he knows the police will be involved, and everything will be alright," Skye said confidently. " And my parents would have helped if they had been here." he said softly to himself, feeling unbearably lonely. "It will be nice to have someone in the house with me again." _Try more like a lifesaver, a godsend ... someone to keep the ghost memories away from me when I stare at the patterns on the ceiling, my eyes dry because I have exhausted all the tears I can shed._ He forced himself to smile.

Mrs. Lojko nodded and then started to rush around, calling out to Nadia and Jo to come help pack ... and pack quickly.

~*~

It was nearly three in the morning before they left for Skye's place, Skye leading them in his car. His parents had owned property a little ways out of town, backing onto the hills. His mother had been a successful horsebreeder and his father a moderately proficient artist - good enough to make a living at it he always ... he always _used_ to say. They always used to laugh because everyone assumed his father was the hard-bitten horse breeder and his mother the artist for some reason. Another small family joke lost forever to all but his memory. It was tiny little in-jokes, shared lives, shared pain and laughter where the deepest pain lay. The tiny splinters of loss like that time when his mother shouted when she found paint on the sofa and he and his father would stand to attention looking innocent until she threatened to call the police, and his father would say in a grave English accent that he was going to fetch a constable immediately - and he had disappeared into the hall and then returned with a painting and said, "Don't be angry; I couldn't find a Constable, all I could find was a Monet," and his mother had replied, "Monet can't buy me love ...!" and they had all laughed themselves silly.

Ever since then any misdemeanour was threatened with fetching a Constable, a Monet ... or heaven help you if the Picasso was brought in! He half-smiled to himself.

He had had to lease the stables to a livery company as he couldn't run them on his own and continue being an artist - and his mother and father had both been proud of his paintings, so he intended to pursue that as opposed to trying to live his mother's dream of a being a select horse breeder. He entered the house, experiencing that deathly stillness that spoke of its unnatural emptiness, which was momentarily dispelled by the worried chatter of the Lojko family.

He stood in the hall looking around wondering what he had done as Nadia walked up to him.

"Thank you, Skye," she said in that soft voice of hers.

"It's nothing," he protested, embarrassed out of his thoughts.

"No ... it's everything," Nadia replied and kissed him gently on the lips, to his complete astonishment. Knowing what he did about her, and what her father did, that intimate gesture would have taken a phenomenal amount of inner courage. She hadn't waited for a response but had disappeared into the darkness to the rooms upstairs.

It was strange to have people in the house again. The following day had seen several attempts to report the situation to the police, and numerous promises that they would be there as soon as possible, but it always came down to one thing: were they in any immediate danger? And the only answer now was ... no. If they had still been in the family home, then there might have been a bit more urgency in the police's response. As it was, Skye found it nerve- wracking to be hanging around with no definite time for everything to be set into motion when Michael would return and discover the impromptu desertion. The day seemed to pass, each moment filled with creeping seconds. Nadia's mother began to get very concerned; especially when she received a call from her husband on her mobile. She said very little, but her face became very pale and the sound of the voice issuing from the phone was full of cold anger, even if Skye could not make out the words. She was physically shaking with shock as she slammed the phone down on the side, nearly breaking it.

"You alright ?" Skye asked, knowing the words to be inadequate. "That was him?" Skye queried with a tinge of fear in his own voice. "I guess he knows you have left him."

"Yes," Mrs. Lojko said flatly. "He knows."

"Look, once the police come there is nothing he can do," he reassured, seeing a hopeless look in her eyes.

"Yes ... I'm sure you are right," she said blandly.

Despite all his assurances Skye felt a creepy sensation as he eventually gave up trying to force the issue. He left her alone for a while. A few hours later he thought he heard the mobile phone again, but maybe it was him being jumpy. He shook his head and went outside to the stables. The police would be arriving soon ... then it would be over. Maybe he should offer them to come and stay on a semi-permanent basis. He refilled the hay baskets and heard a car pull up on the gravel outside. The police were earlier than he expected. He gave a grin, a pleasant surprise, and brushing himself off, he walked outside and halted. There was a jeep pickup there with six men.

"Can I help you?" Skye asked, puzzled.

"Skye Brannon?" A large man swung out of the front seat of the pickup, smiling amiably and cheerfully.

"Yes ...? " he answered, trying to sound adult and in control. "Can I help you?"

"Oh ... I think you've done more than enough helping, BOY!" The pleasant smile flickered and Skye stepped back involuntarily as he met the stranger's eyes. "Belinda! Get out here!" bellowed the man. Nadia's mother came out, shepherding Nadia and Jo as if expecting this call. Skye's heart sank. She _had_ been expecting it ... she had betrayed their location. Why? Why?

"You are coming home with me." Michael Lojko stated, defining the way the world was going to be. She moved over, closer to her husband with that same sick, hopeless look in her eyes.

"See how easy it is, fellas?" he gloated to his assorted friends. There was a chorus of chuckles.

Skye found his voice for the first time. "The police know about what you're like ..."

"Oh yeah ... and who is going to tell them?" Michael said, arching an eyebrow. "Belinda won't be ... nor my girls ... and neither will you!"

Skye felt his mouth go dry with fear. "Why?"

"'Cos we are going to teach you a lesson in keeping quiet." The group of men closed around him.

Skye felt a sudden urge to bolt. His mind went blank with fear ... in the movies on TV there would be a devastatingly witty, brave retort, but he was too shocked by this turn of events to think of anything.

"Michael ..." Belinda Lojko said. "Please ... we are coming home."

Michael looked around with distorted anger. "If it weren't for this young punk, you wouldn't even have tried to leave. He has to be taught when to keep his mouth shut and when to butt out!" He signalled to his friends who began to methodically beat up the teenager, laughing at his unskilled attempts to fight back.

"Daddy, please!" Nadia pleaded tearfully. "Stop it!"

"Get into the car with your mother and Jo," her father ordered. Skye couldn't believe it. Mrs. Lojko and Jo had obediently walked to the familiar car rather than watch what was happening, as if they could deny it had happened merely by not seeing it.

"No!" Nadia said as tears poured down her face. "Don't hurt him!"

The man's anger flared. "Why, Nadia? You been fooling around with him? You think he cares for you or something? You care for him?" His dark eyes were totally irrational He stormed over to the trunk of the jeep and pulled out a hunting shotgun, loading it fluidly.

"It's not like that, Daddy." Nadia said hurriedly between sobs.

"Oh, I am glad ... because if I found you went with him willingly ..." Michael struck at the beaten but still conscious form of Skye. "I might have to punish you too ..."

Nadia gulped.

"Nadia ..." Skye croaked out, half plea, half desperation.

"Tell me, kiddo ... you went with him, didn't you? I know you must have," he said almost kindly.

Nadia shook her head.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" he roared suddenly, blazing with anger. He struck her sharply across the face. "Tell me he forced you ... tell me you had no choice and that because you were scared of him, you made up the lies ... tell me! TELL ME!" The threat growling in his voice was unmistakable. He squeezed her arm tightly enough to bruise.

Skye met Nadia's eyes and saw her resolve crumble. "Yes, Daddy; he did it all ... he made me do it ..." she said in a small voice full of fear.

Michael grinned with a righteous, predatory smile. "You young bastard! Preying on innocent young girls ... I know your type ... you don't mess with MY daughter ... she's mine and mine alone!" He pressed the shotgun barrel to Skye's left leg. "You won't be running after my daughter ever again!" To the surprise of the men around him who thought he was merely trying to frighten the teenager, he actually pulled the trigger. The deafening blast was oddly muffled by Skye's leg and he screamed, a scream of pain and betrayal as the consciousness in his eyes faded along with his idealistic hopes that someone would save him, stand up for him, be there for him as he had tried to be for them.

His eyes rolled back in his head and the images became dark ... he heard a voice say "Jesus, Michael ... what we gonna do? That looks bad ... he might die."

"We'll ditch him in the woods. Not like he's got anyone to come after him, is there?" before utter darkness.

~*~

There were fragments of images, nights, water ... a storm with lightning ... heat and chaos burning within him ... A jolt that seemed to sweep him loose from his body, a struggle to swim, to fly upwards towards a haven of instinctive warmth and light, but being pulled further and further away. Fighting against the flow of energy dragging him away from his destination, in a sudden convulsive burst of energies the touch of an immense Presence, and then ...

As if bursting inwards to a calm eye of vision at the heart of that physical trauma, bright vivid images of a strange alien sky sprang upwards, of soaring through stars to reach a distant sky. The images seemed more steeped in reality than events in the 'real world'. Circling high, high above the bright ruins of the Temple he could see six figures being attacked on the shore of an alien sea. With a gasp Billy recognised himself walking amongst that group. That familiar drama unfolded as if watched in a dream, in every detail, but from an observer's angle. The entire quest was there, right up until the climactic opening of the Monolith and the sensation of the Wolfspirit merging with _that_ Billy carried him and the Wolfspirit away and upwards once more ...

~*~

Skye tried not to make any sound as he dragged Billy's wounded body out into the corridor. The Silver Nid-hi lay locked in an Animal Spirit trance, fighting to find access to his mind and to Billy and the Wolfspirit. _Move ... move ... once away, I could hide them,_ he thought dizzily when he had enough strength back. He dragged Billy up into what he had called "Jeffries tubes" in his own mind. He allowed himself a wry smile. There was no alien vessel or base that did not have the equivalent of these maintenance shafts for people such as himself to exploit ... oh, and of course to actually use for maintenance. Though very rarely, it seemed. If he'd had the strength, he would have giggled to himself. Fortunately they appeared too small for quantrons or for the usual humanoids employed by the likes of Dark Spectre, which was good news for them at least. Pushing himself, he dragged the pale form of his friend deeper and deeper into the maze of tubes until he could go no further. He stopped, rolling Billy so he was facing upright and lay there a moment, pale with injury himself.

__

I would give anything to have him back safe, Trini's voice came back to him. _Promise me you'll find a way ... PROMISE ME!_

"I promise, Trini ..." he whispered and held out his trembling hands. "Not just for you ... but for me. I'm not going to lose him, not for anything." He closed his eyes and dropped into Billy's physically damaged body.

__

He was dying ... my friend is dying. No, if he is gone, we are all doomed.

The fear that thought generated unleashed the required energy. Skye began to draw the Ninjetti healing from himself and projected it into Billy ... more and more ... more than he could really stand to give. He stopped mainly because he started to pass out, not because he had finished healing. He was SO cold. So cold ... He lay there, shaking and shivering uncontrollably on the cold metal, hoping he had done enough.

~*~

__

"Home to yourself," the Wolfspirit had said, running before him on the upsurge of light generated by the vision of the Great Power. _"We are safe now, the Spider's web is broken."_

Billy coughed and opened his eyes to a metal twilight and an ability to move again, though each movement hurt. There was silence around them, wrapping them like a concealing blanket.

"Skye?"

He turned and reached out to touch his friend's hand, finding it icy cold with a kind of shock and shaking violently. The artist was unnaturally pale and drawn, lying next to him nearly unconscious.

"Oh man ... Skye ... you've used way too much energy," Billy whispered hoarsely, twisting painfully. Trini and he had seen this happen a few times ... they had nearly lost the Star Ninjetti the first time he had overextended himself, and that had shaken both of them badly. Now at least he knew that he had to keep him awake and as warm as possible, and besides taking care of him meant he didn't have to think about what had happened to himself. More importantly, if Skye was alive, then maybe Trini was too!

Billy wrapped his arms around the semi-conscious artist. "C'mon, Skye, stay awake ... Tell me what happened ... Is Trini alright? Is she here?" He felt the presence of bandages under the Star Ninjetti's grey top and frowned. "You were injured ... you healed me while you were injured ... how did you get here, what happened?" He felt terrible for badgering him, but he _had_ to stay awake!

"Hurt ... blown up in explosion ... Trini fine. Psi-teleported after you ... alone ... sorry," Skye mumbled.

"Psi-teleported?" Billy breathed, appalled. A blind psi-teleport across interstellar distances! "You hurt badly?" he asked.

"Not like you were," Skye said, a little clearer, still shaking though. "How ... how is the Wolfspirit?"

"We were fine once you put us in your memories," Billy said in a low voice. They hadn't just _seen_ what had happened, they had _felt_ his emotions, and heard his thoughts, too. That despair and aloneness, that vulnerability to opening himself up to others, to help them ever again after being betrayed to such a fate! For the first time Billy truly appreciated how difficult it had been for his friend to help him on Phaedos when it must have been like reliving all those fears over again.

Skye closed his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he mumbled, looking ashamed.

"Sorry?!" Billy exclaimed in a low, hoarse voice. "Skye, why didn't you ever tell us? Tell me? Haven't we been through enough together? You've let us assume it was some sort of accident ... and all the time ..." He swallowed, shifting painfully. "What happened. afterwards? The Wolfspirit and I returned when the Monolith finished sending forth the Great Power."

Skye opened his eyes, weary with pain and the memory of betrayal. "I was eventually found ... in the woods. The police were coming out to interview Nadia's mother ... and found some evidence of the shooting they had missed clearing up. Even so ... it took them a while to find where they had dumped me. By that time I was very nearly dead from loss of blood, exposure, infection and the other injuries. In fact there was, I believe, considerable consternation that I was alive at all."

"And ...?" Billy prompted, feeling the shaking fade as he held Skye, finding comfort for himself in the fact that his friend was alive and with him.

"And ... I spent quite a while in a coma ... I nearly lost the leg, I spent a long time in physio. I sold up and left my home after the trial as they couldn't pin attempted murder on him, just grievous bodily harm. He made a pretty convincing case about me being infatuated with his daughter and stealing her away and her mother coming after her. They were too scared to back me up ... so I sold up and came to Angel Grove to study art. There was nothing left to keep me there anymore," Skye related matter-of-factly, his unemotional tone betraying how much that loss had meant.

Billy sat there. It was strange how you could feel that you knew someone so completely and yet find they had mysteries and secrets that could still surprise you. "I don't know what to say, Skye," he said eventually.

"You don't have to say anything," Skye replied softly; "My old life ended back then and I was given back a new one. With you, Trini and all the others ... more than I ever hoped for."

Billy blinked a few times. Even in the state he was still in he knew that Skye was still hiding something, but before he could press him for any more answers, there was the distinctive sound of alarms going off, and the marshalling of forces.

"Damn it!" he whispered in a low soft voice. "We've got to find a way out of here." He instinctively reached for his Spirit Crystal ... to find it missing. "My Spirit Crystal! I need that to morph!"

"We'll get it back." Skye said, more alert now. "I'm sure that the Nid-hi had it. If we track down her quarters, then we'll find it."

"And the quarters for an honoured guest are going to be near the bridge ... in the most protected area of the ship," Billy said, closing his eyes briefly. An adrenalin rush the size of a tsunami would be useful right now. Neither of them had energy to waste. They would have to think carefully before moving and acting, as they could do this maybe once.

~*~

Ilana broke trance finally and bugled a strangely melodic outburst of frustration as she got up, exhausted. The Silver Nid-hi looked around, her amethyst-tinted eyes half closed with fatigue, noting the empty chamber in which she was lying.

"Chaos take them all!" she hissed, stumbling out into the corridor. The alarms were already sounding, though. How could Dark Spectre know? Unless the alarms were for something else entirely. The base rocked under the impact of some description and she nearly fell as her tiredness overwhelmed her. She had to get to her chambers to recharge before anyone saw her like this. Dark Spectre could deal with the current crisis, she was sure. Whatever it was.

Phantom looked up from shadowing the Silver Nid-hi, having witnessed much of the unfolding events. He noticed the shuddering of the base and alerted to action.

Finally... that would be them. Only one group would dare attack a Base of Dark Spectre's. He had to find away to get to them. The Quantrons would be launched against them. _Time to catch a lift on the back of a StingWinger._ Silent and insubstantial, Phantom slipped through the corridors and made purposefully for the Launch Hangar.

~*~

TigerZord swept in for another strafing run on the massive spacefaring base. "TigerZord coming in ... MegaWinger, stand clear!" she communicated curtly. Zhane barely had a moment to spin the powerful Zord out of the way before Tiger Zord ripped past.

"Whoa!" TJ commented from the bridge of DECA.

"Remind me never to annoy a Ninjetti," Carlos said, manning the main lasers with covering fire. Swarms of enemy craft poured out the base like glittering slivers of a shattered mirror as they wheeled and turned. The Astromegazord began to rock under a heavy barrage of laser fire.

"Alpha! Any luck? Any lock on the pair of them?" Cassie called out.

"Sorry, I cannot get readings from within the base," Alpha said in a subdued voice.

"But the whole plan relied on us being able to teleport them out!" Andros thumped his fist on the main console. They took another hit, sparks shorting from the command consoles everywhere.

"Zhane ... we can't get a lock on anyone, not with the shields up!" he spoke into the communicator.

"Well ... that's just GREAT," the Silver Ranger said through gritted teeth. "A little late to discover that, isn't it?" The Megawinger ploughed through the thick of the space battle, the blinding lights of conflict blooming all around him. A fighter swung in close to attack him, and he flanked it close. Unbeknowst to everyone, an invisible figure launched from the doomed fighter and managed to alight on the body of the Megawinger as its ride exploded in Zhane's face.

The Silver Ranger flinched. "A plan would be pretty good right about now! Trini?"

"Stand clear ... I am going to take them dancing ..." Trini said, snarling to herself to the confusion of her companions. More disciplined now, she channelled that rage, the anger, the determination to take back what was hers and give her own personal reply to the Evil that had taken Billy from her.

"Dancing? What?" Andros said.

__

Feel the energy become one with you, not rule you, let it flow in and around you, draw from that fire and from that become the Tiger Dance ... invincible and deadly in its grace and beauty...

But this time she let that energy flow outwards to encompass TigerZord, and it too became sheathed in that golden unstoppable fire and there were none of the tiny craft that could withstand the Gold TigerZord as it began its deadly Star Dance.

~*~

The base rocked again, and Billy and Skye slid into the tube pitched forward. "I do believe that might be the cavalry," Skye remarked with a gasp, pushing himself up with shaking arms.

"Ya think?" Billy said in an attempt at levity, feeling about ready to curl up and die.

"I recognise Trini's 'Don't mess with me' style of attack instantaneously," Skye answered, peering through the grille. "I think we made it." There, apparently exhausted, the silver-maned Nid-hi was sleeping on a bed - and over on the side lay the small carved precious Spirit Crystal.

"We have to go in there?" Billy gulped, suddenly terrified as he reacted to one of his captors and cursed himself for that weakness.

Skye studied him. "I will ..." he offered.

"No ... no, I'll do it, it is my Crystal after all," Billy said, popping the grille silently.

Skye leant over and put the Star Crystal around Billy's neck.. "It shields your presence from them ... go ... just don't do anything stupid."

Billy gave a pained smile and dropped out as silently as he could into the room, his knees buckling even with the slight impact. It was the matter of a few stumbled steps to the surface on which the Spirit Crystal lay. He picked it up with immense relief and slipped it on ... and then paused.

Her eyes were open.

__

Oh shit.* Billy froze. His heart thumped painfully as in one fluid movement the Silver Nid-hi stood to face him.

"You..." She seemed as surprised as he did. The two enemies stood regarding each other, searching for some inherent sign of evil in each other ... and the worst thing of all was that neither of them found it. In a strange rapport, Billy found himself extending a hand towards her beseechingly as if to offer her a choice that could turn them away from the disaster approaching. The draconic features flinched back, scared by an act of peace as it had never been fazed by any aggressive move. As entities did the galaxy over, when faced with something she didn't understand, she reacted with fear and aggression and drew energy to destroy the strange enemy before her .... only to have her attack cut short by the Skye falling in ... literally. The Star Ninjetti dropped through the grille and felled Ilana in one inelegant plummet from above.

Billy helped him up as the Nid-hi lay stunned.

"Unorthodox move," he commented, his heart still beating fast, chest burning with pain.

"I doubt Dulcea would approve," Skye agreed.

"Just tell her it's an ancient Ninjetti technique..." Billy replied, moving to the door.

"Like that famous Ninjetti strategy of ... 'running away' we are about to use?" Skye quipped as they checked the corridor.

"Got it in one ... Run!" Billy exclaimed in a low voice, a smile flickering around his pain-drawn face for a moment as they beat a hasty and slightly erratic retreat.

~*~

Billy was thinking as rapidly as his exhausted mind would allow, slipping off the Star Crystal and handing it back to Skye as they attempted to run. If the Rangers could teleport them, they would have already ... They _had_ to get out beyond those shields! Pursuit was not that far behind.

__

"Make for the Hangar Bay..." he mindspoke as the two of them connected through the Crystals. _"We'll steal a ship and make a run for it ... far enough outside to be teleported at least!"_

"As you say ... oops ... something coming!" Skye advised, and they ducked out of the way swiftly until the troops passed by. Skye was definitely getting punchy. _"Remind me if I ever become an Evil Overlord to get troops that can look left and right as well as forwards,"_ he quipped mentally, getting a snort of amusement in response

."Spoke too soon ..." he said aloud as they were spotted by a search party. "Go! Go!"

The two injured humans ran with strength born from desperation, skidding on the slick metal floors as they headed in the general direction of the base's hangar bay. They burst out into the cavernous ... and echoingly empty hangar and looked around in dismay.

"Not one craft left? Damn!" Billy's weak protest reverberated in the vast space. "We have to get outside the shield!" There was no question of Skye doing a teleport ... it would kill him, or just not work. He looked around desperately as the sounds of pursuit grew in volume behind them. He would NOT be caught again. He would rather die ... than go through that again ... better to hurl himself into space than submit to that again ... wait a moment!

"Skye ... this is a really stupid and dangerous idea ..." he paused, not believing he was actually going to suggest this.

"No different from any other of your ideas, then," Skye said wryly, backing away from the direction their would-be captors were approaching.

"We gotta get out beyond the shield ... and we can do that if we ... eject ourselves into space ... now," Billy explained, his mouth going dry as he ran over to one of the jettison tubes used for waste.

"You're serious?" Skye gulped, looking at his friend's face. Damn, he WAS serious.

"You can call Trini when we're outside, yes? We should remain conscious for at least thirty seconds ... and after that ..." Billy slid himself into the tube and Skye obediently slid in behind him, the pair of them entwining arms and legs so they would remain together in space.

"After that we undergo explosive decompression, I know ... I've watched too many science fiction flicks. But they included 2001 ..." Skye inhaled deeply, as did Billy, pumping their weakened systems full with as much oxygen as they could. Their pursuers arrived and they looked at each other, gripped hold of each other's hands and ...

The red purge light flicked on as the Nid-hi entered the Hangar and the two humans were expelled at high speed, unprotected, out into the absolute cold of the vacuum of space.

~*~

Skye started yelling mentally as soon as they whooshed out and hit that absolute cold as if it was something solid; the vacuum of space reached inside their lungs and ripped out their precious air. They clung to each other, spinning in the void, a space battle raging around them in streaks of fire and silent explosions. Pain ... pain in his eyes ... as they started to swell and the capillaries popped like tiny balloons ... ice crystals frosting their skin and clothes, hair brittle with cold aching into the bones ...

__

Trini help us ... we're in space, HELP us, we're in space we need teleporting get us out of here we need ... to breathe ... the cold ... the cold ...

Lights crawling across the eyes, the bursting of blood vessels in his nose, the blood powdering to immediate frozen crystals which then scattered in the vastness like garnets thrown across black velvet ...

__

TRINI! TRINI!! Help us! Now...the cold! We're gonna die... no air... no air, need to breathe...

Fingers too cold to feel Billy's pulse against them, eyes too swollen to see his face or the stars....just the lights bursting behind his eyes...the thunder of his faltering heartbeat...

Trini turned in another strafing run and her vengeance cooled immediately as she caught fragments of desperate, weak mindspeech. "Damn! Alpha, scan and lock now! Now ... they're out in space! Teleport them direct to your sickbay!" She nearly screamed with frustration. If they lost them now ... they couldn't! Not now!

"I've got a lock!" Ashley yelled, punching the button in an excess of enthusiasm. "DECA?"

There was a nerve-wracking pause.

"Targets arrived in Sickbay. Status .... alive," the soothing voice reported.

"That's it, we're pulling out of here ... we've got what we came for!" Andros said. "Trini, Zhane ... we have them ... we're pulling out now! DECA, as soon as the Mega Winger and TigerZord have docked, get us out of here at maximum hyperrush, to ... Triforia."

~*~

Trini sprinted up from the docking bay of DECA without a moment's pause to get to Billy as the spaceship lurched into hyperrush, more than a little worse for wear for tackling the base. She burst into the medi-bay searching for him. He was there, lying on one of the beds, and Skye seemingly unconscious still behind him. It was a matter of a heartbeat for her to reach him and grab him in an embrace that she never wanted to end.

"Oh Billy ... Oh ... I thought you were dead ... oh god." She held him, letting go of the anguish that she had kept hidden since she had believed him lost. It took her a while to realise that his silence was due to the uncontrollable sobs that overtook him as his ordeal finally took its toll. Trini recovered from her surprise and stroked his sandy blonde hair away from his face as it seemed that with the burst capillaries in his eyes, Billy was crying tears of blood.

Zhane and Ashley looked a little uncomfortable and backed out of the medi-bay to give them some privacy.

"Unbelievable," Zhane said, shaking his head with unusual seriousness. "I haven't heard of any who have been in Dark Spectre's grasp who have escaped."

"Except Karone," Ashley pointed out

"Three in one day ... boy, that Lava Lout is going to be really annoyed with us," Zhane replied with an irrepressible grin.

"You think he is going to be alright? I mean, the scans showed some of what had been done ..." Ashley looked faintly sick. "DECA doesn't have the facilities to heal him all the way ... let alone whatever effect it had on his mind."

"He looks like he's coped with a lot in his time ... and she's there. Everything can be dealt with if you have someone there to help you." Zhane sounded lost in thought, his mind obviously elsewhere.

Ashley gave him a speculative look. "Hmmm, yeah, I know."

"Besides, Andros is heading for Triforia. They are one of the oldest space-faring civilisations. They will be able to heal him better than we can," Zhane added. "In the meantime, I'm gonna see how Karone is doing."

Ashley shook her head. The boys thought they were so subtle sometimes. Honestly!

It was then that she turned around and saw Cassie approaching with a puzzled frown on her face. "What's up, Cass?" she asked, rather than go back into the medi-bay and interrupt the emotional reunion.

"I could have sworn ... I thought I felt something strange." Cassie kept turning as if expecting to see something from the corner of her eye.

"What was it like?" Ashley asked seriously.

"I don't know ... something familiar." Cassie frowned.

__

Yes! Yes, Cassie, I'm here! Phantom yelled from his phased state, begging her to see him or hear him.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Cass, we'll scan the place from top to bottom when we reach Triforia." Ashley yawned. "It's been a long day and I've gotta go back and see how Trini and the others are getting on."

"Need help?" Cassie offered immediately.

"Wouldn't mind the company ... it's not good," Ashley sighed. It was times like these that they realised what they were really up against.

"With you, Ash." Cassie said, following her into the medi-bay.

__

And I'm with you, Phantom murmured, tracking their footsteps invisibly.

~*~

Triforia was a dry planet, a strange, bright clear dryness that was not necessarily the result of heat. Compared to Earth, its land masses were more like three quarters of the planet's surface as opposed to the other way around.

Andros popped his head into the medi-bay and looked at the three recovering Ninjetti. "We're in orbit around Triforia. I understand you have to visit? " the Kerovian asked.

Trini nodded. "It was going to be our next stop after Chlorak ... where we ran into you." She still hovered close to Billy, unwilling to leave him for even a moment.

The Red AstroRanger nodded. "Well, I thought that they were the closest planet with advanced medical technology. Are you sure you are up to teleporting down?"

Billy swung his legs round and prepared to stand. "I'm fine," he said resolutely. Behind him, Skye shook his head despairingly.

"Billy ... maybe we should ..." Trini began cautiously.

"I'm fine!" Billy said with more force than necessary, obviously trying to convince himself more than the others.

"Well, we can send you on down - we still have quite a few repairs to make, and then we'll join you. I promised Cassie and Ashley to do a full ship's scan." Andros grinned a little ruefully.

Trini looked at her companions and then sighed. "Looks like we will be going on ahead. Can you teleport us down?"

~*~

The three Ninjetti teleported to a designated landing point on Triforia on the outside of the main bulk of a major city and looked around wearily.

"Are you sure that you are up to this?" Trini asked again and hovered protectively around Billy who was still not recovered from his ordeal and walking as if he was half a century older than his true age. He didn't reply to the question.

"I knew we should have stayed and made use of DECA's medical facilities a little more before we came down!" she fretted as they looked across the magnificent view of the city of Thenebes.

Billy had refused to let Skye heal him any more until the Star Ninjetti had a chance to recoup some of his energy. His friend had turned out to be frighteningly weak from his psi teleport and Healing of Billy as well as the harrowing escape from Dark Spectre.

"I'm fine ..." Billy answered, already feeling exhausted. He squinted into the bright clear light, tinged with a subtle red quality from Triforia's large Red Giant of a sun, glimpsing a ghost image of one of the triple moons still in the morning sky.

The white-haired artist beside him gave a strained chuckle. "Yeah right, _sure_ you are," he said, the link through the Star Crystal belying that assertion.

It was then that a hurried delegation approached; heading up to them on a glistening silver-white saurian steed was a familiar figure.

"That's him?" Trini asked and Billy nodded. "Trey ... yes, he's a prince of Triforia," he replied tiredly.

"Well, I wouldn't have guessed," Skye said wryly. The young man was surrounded by a bodyguard of uniformed soldiers riding black saurian creatures, at least 9 of them, and the white saurian was bedecked with a jewelled harness that flashed fire in the red sun's rays. Trey swung off of the creature's back and came running over, just like a normal teenager.

"Billy!"

The Wolf Ninjetti grinned. He felt so much older than the young prince now, but he knew that was not the case. "Hello, Trey," he replied, unable to disguise the weariness in his voice.

"Careful, I think you are astonishing your Guard with impropriety," he teased a little.

The handsome Triforian came to a halt in front of them, looking at the three appraisingly.

"Billy ... what happened to you? We were expecting you seven days ago," he asked, showing concern in his eyes. The black Triad streak over his eye creased as he frowned.

Billy found himself crippled by a fear of speaking what had happened aloud as if it would summon the memories back to life once more. "I ... er ... we met with an unavoidable delay," he said, looking away suddenly from the alien prince's astute gaze.

__

Why do I feel so guilty for being hurt? Because I found that I would have broken if they had asked me something I could have told them? Because Dark Spectre and the Nid-hi showed me that even Spirit can be wounded? That nothing is untouchable, not even the innermost parts of myself? Billy forced himself to meet Trey's gaze once more and smile as if nothing was untoward.

Trey hesitated, obviously wanting to probe further but unsure of how that would be taken. He retreated briefly into formality. "Greetings from the Royal Triads of Triforia. As a Triad Lord and Prince I greet you and offer the hospitality of our world," he said in a loud formal voice.

"Now ... there, formalities done with. Billy, what happened to you and your companions?" he said, leaning in closer, accustomed to getting answers when he wanted them.

"We ran across Dark Spectre," the Wolf Ninjetti said softly.

Trey blanched a little, realising immediately what that might have entailed from Billy's drawn expression. "Let's get you to the Healers immediately!" he said in concern.

"I would appreciate that," Trini said, looking across at Billy. "Maybe you can persuade him to take help where we cannot."

"Are you well enough to ride on the thrakka?" Trey asked them all. "Otherwise we will teleport you in."

"We'll be fine riding in," Billy said stubbornly, and Trini sighed next to him. He was being so inflexible about showing weakness, almost to the point of stupidity, and as yet she couldn't see why.

Trey personally assisted them onto the saurian thrakka, looking concerned. "Don't worry, they will take all of us," he said as they looked at their strange steed dubiously. "They are immensely strong."

The Ninjetti settled down, Trey shouted "Sha!" and the white thrakka leapt forward smoothly, seemingly unaffected by the extra passengers.

They approached Thenebes through a wide causeway, down a road lined with magnificent alien buildings that appeared somewhat reminiscent of ziggurat structures, or truncated pyramids, but they were covered in a mass of patterned glorious colours that nearly dazzled the eye. Everywhere, symbols and pictures predominated with a strange compelling effect. It said much that Billy's usually curious mind was turned inwards and seemed not to notice the splendour of Trey's home city. But then he had visited Triforia before. They dismounted the thrakka outside the massive ziggurat of the palace, and Trey immediately summoned Healers and physicians to attend them, the commanding tone in his voice very evident. Billy was ushered immediately into some sort of Healing Chamber and the others followed, watching carefully and anxiously.

Trey followed them, concerned as the Healers began working on him, muttering under their breaths at the extent of Billy's condition. They got him to sit on something that resembled the old 'table' in the Power Chamber and lie back as they worked. Trini watched anxiously as Billy seemed to slip into sleep.

"Thank you, Trey," she said finally, pleased Billy was resting some more. "He's been so stubborn about this ... really. He will be all right, won't he?"

"I can assure you Triforia has some of the best medical facilities in this sector of the Galaxy," Trey informed her with a confident tone in a very royal formal fashion.

Trini frowned slightly. "Trey, I didn't ask what the facilities were like, or the competence of the staff, I asked whether he was going to be all right. They hurt him so much ..." she swallowed, barely controlling her emotions.

Trey relaxed a little. "I'm sorry ... I forget what it is like on Earth, how relaxed everyone was, and how informal. Triforia is ... somewhat more structured. We are seldom as direct. It is regarded as ... uncouth."

Trini's eyes flashed slightly. "Like Earth and its inhabitants, you mean?"

Trey very nearly blushed. "My apologies ... I did not mean to imply that this was a bad thing. If it were, if I had undergone my Tripartuition here as opposed to there ..." his voice had dropped to a whisper. "Then I would have been renounced from the lineage of the Triad Crown. I was astonished when Billy, who found me first ... when I first literally divided against myself, that he did not turn on me in revulsion. I made him promise to hide me from the general population for that time and he found a way to use his energy to reunite me long enough to morph and help his friends. But the shame was so great ... I didn't know what to do. It took a while before he convinced me that the others would not reject me for what was happening. I owe him for that ... and for rescuing me on Aquitar."

Trini nodded, slightly appeased "He didn't tell anyone he did that," she said, surprised.

"I asked him not to ..." Trey admitted. "But it was close at times ... I think the others thought he was the Gold Ranger for a while because he had to rest after I'd taken the energy to morph from him. That's why the Triads sent for him after I underwent an accidental Tripartuition on Aquitar... that was allowable but still kept quiet. They thought that the energy transfer could work again. But it needed more. I was so sure he could take the Powers from me as I had taken them from him ... I never meant to hurt him by having the Gold Power reject him ..."

The alien prince looked ashamed and Trini put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, Trey. Billy knew it wasn't deliberate, that much I do know. But what I want to know now is whether he is going to be cured. I _need_ to know this ... please." Trini was trying to maintain her dignity. Trey nodded, understanding her motivation and went to discuss this with some of the physicians.

He was there a while before returning, looking a little pale. "He will be fine ... how they don't know, but he will be. He shouldn't be alive, there are the marks of wounds within his body as well as on the surface ... mortal injuries," he gulped as if realising the seriousness of the situation suddenly.

"Skye saved him," Trini said calmly, while inwardly her entire being was recoiling from that statement. Billy had played it down, said it had been horrible, but not exactly what had happened. Damn them for stubborn male egos!

She continued speaking almost automatically. "He has studied the Healing powers of the Ninjetti, but Billy would not let him supply any more energy to him after he nearly gave too much." Trini looked round suddenly. She had hardly heard two words from Skye since the rescue. She didn't even know what had happened beyond the bare minimum Billy had imparted before he had rested. But then she had been so worried about Billy, she had been more than a little distracted. After what Skye had done, and thinking about it ... she didn't even think she had said 'thank you'. She flushed guiltily.

Trey reassessed the white-haired artist who had been lurking silently. "I ... I see. Well, by tomorrow all the residual damage should be cured."

Trini exhaled with relief. "Do you think they could look at Skye too?" she asked suddenly.

__

Come on, Trini, you know what he is like, remaining silent when he has been hurt because he is worried about showing a weakness, in case we think he's not capable or too vulnerable. With sudden realisation she looked across at Billy. Oh lord, TWO of them playing the same sort of game. Well, she would see about this.

__

A wound is best cleaned when it is fresh as her grandfather would say, and it was sound advice. Billy brooded on things, took them inside of him until they nearly destroyed him. Not this time. Not if she could help it. She followed Trey over as they escorted a clearly reluctant Skye to a similar facility to that treating Billy, and though she was no physician she could see that the readings in the monitors and devices were all in sections that flashed urgent pulses of colour. Her face went grim as she looked at both of them, far enough from the immediate relief at getting them back to start to get very angry.

Unfortunately she was allowed to brood on this fact for some time while they were being treated. Trey was a courteous host, but he could see that Trini was distracted by the plight of her companions, and he took the precaution of being informed as soon as they awoke.

Trini finished sipping her jola tea that Trey had made for her as the twilight drew in, colouring the skyline of the city with fantastic sunset colours. The pyramid shapes began to be picked out by a myriad of twinkling starlike lights as the Triforians stepped out into the cool of the evening to enjoy life. A servant approached Trey and passed him a message.

"Ah ... Trini, it seems that Billy and Skye have both awakened from their treatment; if you wish to see them ..." he said, looking up at her.

"I wish to see them alone, if that is at all possible," Trini answered, her Tigerspirit tailtwitching inside of her.

"That can be arranged," Trey said, mentally apologising to Billy for what he was about to unleash upon him as he escorted the Gold Tiger Ninjetti to the Healing area.

~*~

Billy lay staring into the darkness, afraid once again. Was there nothing that he wasn't going to be afraid of ever again? Darkness? Fire? Space? Pain? Death ... Life? Nothing had been left to him, nothing that hadn't been touched by Dark Spectre's pain-filled hand and the Silver Nid-hi's knife of the spirit. He shuddered, scared to admit how fragile and weak he felt now, how many doubts had grown in his mind. What did he think he was doing out here anyway? Did he really think he could make a difference? The veil between life and death could be torn aside at any moment ... and only the merest chance and sheer stupidity had saved them this time. What if ... what if he had told some vital information that had been harmful to everyone? He would have done so, of that he was sure. They needed someone strong, someone who would not ever break to make the decisions, not someone like him.

"Billy, I can feel that," Skye murmured from across the room.

Billy mentally cursed. _Damn it!_ "I ... sorry ... I think I'd better be getting up now. We have so much to do." He tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, trying to run away from his own thoughts.

"Will! Lie back down right now!" Trini's voice snapped through the room. He jumped slightly. "You too, Skye; don't think I can't see what you are doing as well!" The Gold Tiger Ninjetti strode into the room, agitation fairly pouring off of her. Billy and Skye exchanged sheepish looks as she stood between the pair of them.

"We're fine ... really," Billy began, only to be silenced by a glare.

"Oh yes, sure you are ..." Trini clenched her fists, wanting to knock some sense into the pair of them. "So the fact that I am reliably informed that you should both be dead several times over constitutes 'fine', does it? " Skye opened his mouth to protest. "No ... just shut up, the pair of you. I want no more 'I'm fine, I'm a man, nothing hurts me or affects me.' Who are you trying to fool, anyway? Because it certainly isn't working on me, so I can't imagine it's working terribly well on yourselves, is it!?!"

"Trini ... I ..." Billy began, trying to tell her why he couldn't appear weak. "Please understand ..."

"What I understand, Billy, is that two people I love are scaring me witless by pretending they are not hurting. And in doing so, they are endangering themselves ... and more to the point, the whole mission!" Trini shot back immediately. "I see the person I love more than life, torturing himself because someone tortured him and tore down all his defences and made him vulnerable ... I see someone I care about deeply taking risks without thinking of the consequences to themselves. I see you both lying here, having been hurt and so wounded that you think there is something wrong with you for being made a victim!"

There was a stunned silence for a moment, then Trini walked silently over to Billy and sat down next to him. "What are you afraid of, Billy? That I won't love you? Of what ...?"

Billy finally spoke in a very small, subdued voice. "Of myself. I wasn't strong enough ... I wasn't able to stop them. I would have told them everything if I had known ..." He was so unlike the confident Billy that had matured during their time in space that Trini was shaken.

"Billy, love, you are alive! You beat them," Trini said reassuringly. "Tell me what happened to you, Billy ... all of it ..." She took his hands in hers and looked at him until he was forced to meet her eyes. Once that connection was there it all came out. All of it, the terror, the pain, the feeling of utter vulnerability, the fear of living and betraying everyone and finally the guilt at being a victim and what might have happened and the paralysing doubt that had crept into him as he lay physically broken.

Trini held him like a child as his emotional pain, keen as a knife's edge, cut him anew, but this time left the wounds in his spirit clean and able to heal. She hurt for him so much, that he had had to endure that, and felt herself trying to accept the guilt for his pain though there had been nothing she could do.

"It wasn't your fault, Billy, we are only human and we are allowed to make mistakes. In fact, my grandfather used to say there is a great freedom in realising you are not meant to be perfect - if you can accept the fact that you _are not_ perfect. You didn't betray anyone, you saved us."

"But ... but I would have done ..." Billy said, still deeply ashamed. "I would have said anything to just stop the pain."

"And those words would have been worthless to them. They would not have believed them as truth. They look for their own truth ..." Trini regarded him with tears still bright in her own eyes. "Billy, much as I love you ... you are not perfect, and I don't want you to be. I want you to be human, so that I _can_ love you ... do you understand? You are the strongest person I know, strong in your spirit. You have endured what would have destroyed others and thought nothing of it ... only worried that you are not strong enough, not good enough. I have news for you ... you _are _strong enough and good enough ... at least you are for me." She kissed him again, and the look of relief in his eyes was reassuring. She smiled slightly. "You do believe me, yes?"

He nodded silently, unbelievably relieved that she had not turned away from him, lost her respect for him for showing weakness. She pushed him to lie down, kissing him on the lips, and exhausted by all the emotional outpouring he finally allowed himself to sleep as she stood watching over him.

"Who guards the guardian?" she said softly with a sigh. "Those who love him ..." she answered her rhetorical question, caressing his more relaxed face and sleeping features. Then she turned facing the place where Skye lay, staring unmoving into the darkness.

__

And I thought dealing with Billy was hard, she thought to herself.

"Skye?"

"Mmm?"

"Don't think you are going to get off lightly, either," Trini said, trying to inject a hint of humour into her voice.

"I somehow didn't think I would," Skye retorted, flashing her a quick look with his grey-blue eyes.

"Why did you do that, Skye?" Trini asked in a low voice. "Try something that you must have known would probably have led to your death?"

"I promised." He said it simply, still not meeting her eyes.

"I didn't know what I was asking ... what I was saying, they were just words ..." Trini protested.

"Words are all I have," Skye said simply, and unexpectedly Trini felt tears welling in her eyes.

"Oh Skye, if it weren't for Billy ..." Trini began and then stopped, realising that she couldn't imagine a life without him now.

"Exactly," Skye replied, feeling that emotion as he had all the others between them. "There are some people who can find happiness and even love again ... and there are some who cannot." He looked at her. "You want to know why I did it? Because you and Billy are all I have."

There was no answer to that and Trini swallowed. "But the risks ... the stupid risks ... I mean if Billy says, hey Skye, jump out into space, you just do it?"

Skye smiled. "Yes."

"Why? For god's sake, why?" Trini asked explosively.

"Because I trust him, I trust you." Skye shrugged as if that was obvious.

"But Skye ... you can't just do that ..." Trini began.

"Trini ... knowing now that we got Billy back, even though I nearly died in the process, would you really not ask me to do the same again if me staying safe meant I hadn't gone after him?" the white-haired artist asked, interrupting her.

Trini groaned. "Damn you! Skye, that's not fair ..." She felt guilty at the instinctive _no_ her emotions responded with.

"Still the same answer though, isn't it?" Skye replied quietly. "You would ask me to risk it all again, wouldn't you, knowing that it would save him ... whatever the cost?"

And to that Trini couldn't truthfully do anything but nod.

Skye sighed. "There's no need to feel guilty about any of it. I would have chosen the same ... even after ... everything; I would still do it ... though I'd try and make use of a spacesuit this time," he finished wryly.

Trini gave a hesitant smile. "I still can't believe you did that. I can't believe it happened, really ... if I think about how close we all came ..."

"Don't ... we are here now, and alive," Skye said succinctly. "Sometimes that is the greatest gift we can have."

Trini bent over and kissed him gently on the cheek by way of thanks, knowing that she hadn't the words to say it adequately. The glimmer of the Star Crystal on Skye's chest and the look in his eyes told her, as she stepped back, that he knew more than she did about what she was feeling and she watched him silently as his eyes closed into sleep.

In the silent Healing Chamber Trini stood, equally poised between the two people she knew who loved her, and then, very slowly and definitely, turned and walked to be with Billy ... though she looked over her shoulder at Skye regretfully. There was only one true choice for her and, once made all those years ago when they were Rangers together it could not be undone for anything.

~*~

"Do I _have_ to get dressed up?" Zhane grumbled, annoyed as Andros threw his formal Ranger attire at him.

"Yes," Andros said as the others joined them, all smart and in full formal gear.

"Zhane? Aren't you READY?" Ashley asked, exasperated. "And you complain about us women getting ready." She theatrically rolled her eyes.

"I don't see why I have to get so dressed up," the Silver Ranger tugged on the black and silver trim dress uniform.

"If we do, buddy, then you certainly have to," TJ chipped in, grinning. "Besides, some sort of special occasion, right Alpha?"

"The Triple Eclipse is an immensely sacred event on Triforia. It has not occurred more than twice in recorded history," Alpha said. "Every important being in the sector will be there."

"Tell me again why we are invited?" Zhane said with a grin, smoothing his white-blond hair into some semblance of order. Andros shoved him out into the corridor as they made their way to the transport tubes. Cassie jumped into her transport tube and then paused as she was about to let go, looking around with a slight frown. The others had gone ahead and she was alone. But it didn't feel like she was. She parted her lips to speak and then shook her head, decisively pushing herself through the tube.

Phantom cursed unheard and followed behind her. So close to being heard! So close!

~*~

The AstroRangers turned at the voice that hailed them just as they grouped together once more when Cassie arrived. It was Trey, dressed in his Gold Ranger attire and followed by the three Ninjetii dressed in their soft formal robes of blue, gold and a soft pale grey for Billy, Trini and Skye respectively.

"He looks better," TJ commented, observing Billy and said in an aside, "Good call, Andros."

The Red Ranger quirked a rare smile as Trey carried on talking with barely concealed excitement.

"You are here just in time! The Eclipse will begin soon, and there is rumour that the Ceremony will be performed!" Trey announced, assuming they should all have intimate knowledge of this fact. Out of the Rangers and Ninjetti assembled there, only Andros, Zhane and Karone showed any reaction.

"The Ceremony? Really? I thought that was just a legend!" Karone said, astonished.

Trey shrugged. "There was word from the Temple. From the Seer. Come, you all have pride of place." He smiled.

The group followed him obediently through the thronged streets of Thenebes where the population was flocking towards the Temple or just to find a vantage point to watch the solar phenomenon. The red giant of a sun hung in the sky, burning balefully, and the three ghostlike moons proceeded inexorably towards the sun itself to drown its light.

The group of Rangers were ushered to the edge of the Temple Dais, the massive expanse of black stone that made the huge building that rose behind it so resemble that incredible Zord Pyramidas. Etched into the Dais floor were a multitude of glyphs and Billy frowned slightly. They reminded him of something ... but he couldn't quite place it. The three Ninjetti took their position on the Dais very close to each other, not having to say a word since the night before had restored the peace between them.

A palpable excitement began to grip the crowd as a sliver of the largest moon began to slice away at the disc of the red sun. Strangely though, it still seemed bright and full of sunshine, but the sight was oddly compelling.

As the first edge of the first moon kissed the edge of the sun, a pure resonating sound cut through the air, a sound that seemed to thrum through the ground up through feet and legs, through the body to the head. A group of black-and-gold-clad figures exited the Temple, each holding a crystal bowl from which they were smoothly drawing the unbelievable sound with strangely shaped wooden implements. Out of the Temple, a figure in a white-gold robe made a solitary stately entrance to the centre of the Dais. All around them there was a murmur of awe from the multitude of Triforians, and the visitors were equally impressed, even if they did not know the full impact behind what was going on.

There was silence as she spoke, and the first shadow of eclipse danced towards them.

"Holder of the Eye. Step forward," she called out. "Deliver to me the Eye. The Seer has need of it."

An attendant brought the shimmering white-gold-robed figure an object wrapped in a black cloth. The woman pushed back her cowled hood and unwrapped the cloth, swiftly revealing the glitter of a large black crystal torus.

She held it as she spoke again.

"Holder of the Gold Power. Step forward." Her strong voice rang out and Trey obediently walked forward. "Deliver to me your Power staff. The Seer has need of it."

Without hesitation Trey, a Triad Prince and Lord of Triforia, obeyed this strange woman.

Trini, Billy and Skye glanced at each other, surprised at his acquiescence. Obviously, on Triforia this woman ranked above the Royal Triads. As Trey left, the woman deftly manipulated the crested head of the staff until it locked intricately around the black torus, so that when she raised it it looked like an empty eye waiting to see.

The people hushed again as the chill of the eclipse stole insidiously across the world and flocks of chiera skimmed the ground, thinking twilight had come early. The silence was broken once more by the voice of the Seer.

"As Foreseen ... the Three that are Body, Mind and Spirit of a One, have come to Triforia."

She turned a piercing gaze upon the Ninjetti, to their consternation. "And with them they carry the centre of the Eye of Knowledge. Holder of the Centre, I summon you to bring it to me. The Seer has need of it."

Billy looked at Trini, confused _"Centre of the Eye of Knowledge? Do we have that?"_ he mindspoke puzzledly.

__

"I don't know... Skye, do you ...oh." Trini stopped as the Star Ninjetti was already halfway over to the imperious woman. "Obviously he does," she said softly.

Skye bowed his head to the Seer and presented her with a familiar-looking orb.

"The Marai Sphere! Of course," Billy exclaimed. "The repository of all the knowledge of the Ancient Ninjetti."

In a half trance the white-haired artist returned to them as if only barely aware of what he was doing.

The Seer slotted the orb into the centre of the black eye-frame; it snicked into place perfectly and then flooded its clear crystal with a matching blackness. Taking the completed Eye, the Seer raised the staff and then, with the Gold Power crackling around it, thrust it into the Dais at her feet. Like a key slotting into a lock, a burst of energy travelled down the staff, rippling through the black stone, and a rumbling sound was heard as the top of the mighty Pyramid behind them split apart, partially revealing a massive lens-like structure in the direct line of the eclipse.

Looking at some of the faces around him, Billy realised this was something beyond the spectacular - the normally formal Triforians were aquiver with something akin to ... awe.

The light was beginning to fade rapidly now; the actual shadow could be seen racing across the ground, giving a curious rippling appearance that fooled the senses into believing the steady ground was shaking. As the three moons began to come together and the light dimmed quickly, this was mirrored by a growing brightness in the blackness of the Eye. As the starwhite light crept across the pulsing energy of the Eye Staff, bolts of energy flowed to the Pyramid, causing the Great Eye of the Pyramid to open, awakening in the eclipselight.

Night fell suddenly in the middle of the day, as the three moons lined up perfectly for the totality of the Solar Eclipse. Stars abruptly became visible, glittering in a midnight blue sky, the aurora around the sun a gossamer rainbow veil of shimmering light and a silence descended as if the entire world was holding its breath. Not even a heartbeat could be heard ... nothing.

The light of the Eye Staff became dazzling and it was suddenly as if the great Pyramid Eye had blinked and opened its lens, looking down on them like an Eye of the Gods. Trapped within its shimmering essence, images of galaxies and dancing time swirled, woken by the touch of the Triple Eclipse. Its gaze pierced downwards to the Dais, and the inscribed glyphs glowed under its sight. Unafraid, the Seer turned and walked into the heart of that strange light, raising her arms in the silence of the newborn night.

"Eye of Triforia, I summon the Divine Sight!" she called, her voice trembling slightly.

Billy, Trini and the entire population of Triforia watched in amazement at the miracle that followed. The Seer seemed to shimmer ... and split into three ... That caused a gasp from the Triforians.

And then those three split into three again ... and those three again ... the final set of twenty- seven appearing pale and translucent, but brimful of a strange nimbus of energy. They separated rapidly into groups of nine and as they did so, there was a flare of intense energy from the Great Eye. When everyone looked back again from the brief dazzle, three glowing enormous female forms of energy towered before them all. Of one accord, the Triforians fell to their knees in awe, seeing before them the embodiment of their Godesses made manifest.

Trey beside them once again managed to remain standing with the Rangers and Ninjetti Spirit Warriors.

"Destiny, Prophecy and Vision - the Aspects of the Seer of All!" he half gasped out, even his composure shaken.

**__**

"We have come." The apparitions stated in a perfect chorus. **_"Our time is short, our message of importance."_**

The presence on the left moved forward, its energy tinged with gold and fire.

**__**

"I, Prophecy, part the flow of the river of time with my rocks of certainty. These rocks cannot be changed and direct the course of the river of events. Harken all "

And her voice resounded through the still atmosphere as she repeated the litany that the Ninjetti had said over and over since the beginning of their mission.

**__**

"The Sun Goes Down, beware the Darkness Visible!" The words rang out, chilling in their formality as Prophecy continued.

**__**

"Prophecy speaks, and those of wisdom will listen. In that Darkness no Light exists, but it is swallowed by Darkness. Yea, even that of the Shahin Tara Zed. The threat is more than that which threatens the Light alone - All is threatened in the Fall of Darkness. The Zha'kha-rhee'aa and the Shahin Tara Zed will meet in conflict as prophesied through the Ages as the Powers look on. But in this beware the Shadows in the Darkness. They will strike from within the Light, they will strike from within the Night, in ways unlooked for, for their Mind is not as it seems. I gift you this Prophecy. Use it wisely."

Prophecy withdrew, allowing its sister presence to come forward. The bright white presence burned brightly as it issued its instructions in a voice of thunder.

**__**

"I, Destiny, show the path of the Light from which you should not stray, though you may choose to do so. People of Triforia, take your path with the Light and resist this Darkness, though it mean your destruction, for the paradox remains that there is more potential of Chaos in the burgeoning Reign of Order than of anything else. Spirit Warrior of the Tiger..."

And Trini jumped at being addressed so specifically.

**__**

"Seek your destiny within a divided heart. Spirit Warrior of the Wolf, seek your destiny within the lonely choice and decision upon which all else rests. Be wise and true to yourself in that moment, for your destiny twines with energies beyond our comprehension. Star -Bearer, seek your destiny with the Star and perceive not loss but that your Destiny is a Gift. Know now that when the Forces of Light meet the Advent of Darkness, there are none untouched by Destiny's Choices. The Pattern exists and has been preserved and those Destinies must be faced and accepted. Seek now those Powers that should come to you all before the Skein of Fate tightens around you."

Again the figure faded back, leaving the strange night-filled figure of the final manifestation to speak in the dying moments of the Eclipse.

**__**

"I, Vision, show the Possibilities of how we can steer the future through the certainties of Prophecy and the Paths of Destiny." The fearsome dark figure billowed, reflecting the stars in the sky above in its substance.

**__**

"Know that in the unknown is the Knowledge needed by the Light. Those that have stared at the Light all their lives are often blinded by its presence and unable to see the true shape of the future in the Darkness. Know that in the ambiguity of Prophecy and Destiny lies salvation, for Words cannot be unsaid. Know that the Words of Prophecy have Power, but their final Power is in how they are read, not in the Word itself. May the keen sight of the Animal Spirits pierce this mystery, or all life is doomed. Take heed of my words, for in them lies the only hope - and you are all our hope for survival." She seemed to stare directly at the Ninjetti and the Rangers as the three figures became silent, their message completed.

The gem-like vibrant beads glittering around the eclipsed sun became brighter, as if the black discs of the moon were weeping tears of light.

The three figures seemed to fade under the reappearance of the sun, dispersing like dawn mist and then re-coalescing into the groups of nine figures, that flowed together to the group of three ... and then finally back into the single white-robed figure, looking frail and worn. With shaking hands the Seer of Triforia pulled the Eye Staff from the Glyph Dais and the Great Eye closed in the Pyramid, returning to dream once more. Her duty completed, she wavered and then began to fall, only to have Trey leap to assist her. It was then, the manifestation over, the sun coming out from the unearthly splendour of the total eclipse, that the emotional impact of the phenomenon made itself felt. There was a spontaneous roar of exultation from the assembled masses that spread throughout the city, deafening the observing Ninjetti, still trying to absorb what the Presences had said to them and reconcile these messages.

The AstroRangers were caught up in the euphoria, and Cassie was feeling a surge of excitement and turned to hug the person whose presence she felt on her left behind her ... only to find no-one there. That shocked her utterly. She had been so convinced that there was someone there. It was then that she saw a faint triple shadow in that spot as the moons split the red sunlight peculiarly, moving from in front of Triforia's sun. Her gasp alerted Ashley and the other Rangers to look and see what the problem was, initially not understanding until her friend pointed at the shadow.

"Wha ... what is it?" she asked, shaken by so many mysterious things in a short space of time.

Cassie took a deep breath and went out on a limb. "Phantom? Is that you?"

If a shadow could appear to be stunned, then the triple shadow was triply stunned. There was a frantic nodding from the shadow.

"Show yourself?" Cassie requested.

The shadow put out its hands in a gesture of helplessness and Cassie sighed with realisation.

"You can't?"

More nodding.

"Don't worry, Phantom, we'll find a way to help you," she reassured him. "Just stay close to me at all times, the eclipse shadow is fading." She ignored a knowing smirk from Zhane. "Maybe Billy could help you, if Alpha and DECA can't." She looked over at the Ninjetti, discussing the Words of the Aspects of the Seer of All avidly with Trey.

"I'm going to need a transcript of what they said," Billy was saying excitedly. Some of it had sounded not too good, but he had hope that there was hope now. His own researches into Prophecy had been more than a little depressing.

"It will have been written down word for word," Trey replied, looking boyish in his enthusiasm as warmth and light returned to his world. "I will get you a copy after the celebration!" He paused a moment. "You are up to that, aren't you?"

Billy and Trini nodded. "But we will have to leave for Earth as soon as it is over. There is too much to do now," Billy said.

"And besides ... I miss my home," Trini added quietly, with agreeing nods from her companions.

"I understand ... and I'm sure the AstroRangers will help you get back there as soon as possible. In the meantime ... it is not every day that the Divine Aspects manifest to the people," Trey said almost informally. "Come now, you were mentioned directly, so you will be honoured accordingly." He beckoned all of them and Trini put her arm around Billy, knowing his dislike for formal occasions, and said in a low laughing voice. "There, there ... it's all going to be over soon," and gave him a kiss on the cheek as they were ushered away.

~*~

"Finally we are going home," Billy sighed with relief as they settled on the bridge of the AstroMegaShip, being chauffeur-driven home as it were. "Is Phantom here?" he asked Cassie.

She nodded, more sure of her instincts now.

"Phantom ... we will get you rephased when we get back to Earth. I have a remodulator I used on Zordon's transwarp dimension stored at my house. Linked to enough energy, I should be able to modify it to phase you back into this dimension as I did for Zordon." Billy explained, earnestly addressing the thin air but feeling a little foolish as he did so.

Andros walked in and checked the course, then turned to the Ninjetti. "Do you want me to transmit ahead and let them know we are on our way?"

The three Ninjetti exchanged a glance and Skye smiled. "Let's make it a surprise, shall we?" he said in his soft voice. Trini chuckled slightly and Billy quirked a smile through the shadow of his experiences that lurked in his eyes.

~*~

"Emergency meetings, always emergency meetings ..." Tommy muttered to Kimberly as they strode purposefully along the road to the home of WolfTech - Billy's house.

"Always when I'm having a shower, too." The Crane Ninjetti said, tying back her still-damp hair. "Wonder what it is this time?"

"I don't know ... I'm not sure who called it this time. We have so many of the damn things ..." Tommy said impatiently. He had been planning to spend a little more quality time with Kim since she'd had that strange episode last week. She had suddenly turned pale, nearly fainted and been on the verge of collapse for a while and then recovered. He still had no idea why and he hadn't been that worried for a long time.

They bumped into Rocky and Kat approaching from across the street. "Geez, Tommy, did you HAVE to call us out now? We've very nearly finished the Power Chamber. Justin was using words no one his age should know ... well, use in polite company, at least."

"That would explain why he was using them," Kat said sweetly, having picked up some of her partner's joking style in the time they had been together.

"Hey!" Rocky protested.

"Well, it wasn't Tommy this time," Kim said matter of factly. "Can we go in? My hair isn't completely dry."

Rocky and Tommy chortled under their breath.

"What?" Kimberley said, her hands on her hips.

"That was such a ...'Kim' thing to say," Rocky replied, and the Crane Spirit Warrior narrowed her eyes.

"Do me a favour, Kat..." she said and Kat duly poked Rocky in the ribs as they walked in.

The Cranstons' house was packed. Everyone was there, squeezed into the lounge, a loud hubbub at the impromptu meeting.

"Finally..." Jason called out, curled up with Dulcea on one of the armchairs. "Turn up late to your own meeting ... we should have known!" The Falcon Ninjetti was good-naturedly pelted with cushions from around the room.

"It wasn't me! Hey! Quit that!" Tommy batted the soft missiles away.

"No, it was me." Hank Cranston stood at the doorway as the rowdy bunch calmed down a bit.

Well, that was a surprise. Billy's father had dealt mainly with the more mundane aspects of the project, running WolfTech and dealing as almost a third-party supplier for their requirements, but he had never called a major meeting.

"What's wrong?" Aisha asked sitting up, dislodging Zack in the process.

"Nothing to worry about ... really," Hank reassured with a smile. "Just got a few visitors here." He beckoned the Astro Rangers in and the Turbo team leapt up to greet their friends.

"Carlos!" Adam said, pleasedly clasping his hand. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Busy ... looking for Zordon," Ashley said, going up to Tanya and giving her a hug. "And dealing with all these attacks by the UAE ... so many refugees on the move out there at the moment." She sighed a little.

"Great to see you again, TJ," Tommy added. The Blue AstroRanger introduced Andros, Zhane and Karone as they made the rounds.

"Actually ..." Cassie said, looking around at them all, "We picked up a few passengers on the way home."

She smirked a little and Kimberly felt a peculiar sensation inside her, like a glowing anticipation. She gasped suddenly and stood up. "Oh my god ... it's them!"

"Who?" Tommy was in the middle of asking when Billy, Trini and Skye entered the room.

There was a moment of unbelieving silence and then everyone tried to leap from their seats to greet their friends whom they had not seen for such a long time. The three found themselves stuck in the middle of a crush of bodies until Trini let out a piercing whistle that shocked everyone into silence. "Give us some room! Billy needs to take it easy!"

Billy gave her an irritated look, but took the proffered seat appreciatively.

"Billy! Why on earth didn't you warn us?" Tanya berated him.

"What, and let you have time to organise some sort of party?" The Wolf Ninjetti looked around with a mild smile. His Wolfspirit was revelling in the feeling of having his Pack around him, feeling more comfortable and secure than he had for a long time.

Adam was studying his long-missed friend carefully, worried about what he saw in him. He had been hurt; the mark of hard experience was in his eyes. He had an edge he had not posessed before, and also vulnerability.

"Billy?" he asked softly, all that time apart vanishing as he touched his friend's shoulder.

Billy looked up into Adam's dark and worried eyes and repeated his faint smile. "Later..." he said quietly. Jason came up behind him as he said that. "And you are _not_ getting out of it either," he added, his arm still around Dulcea.

Billy's communicator bleeped suddenly and he looked around. Around him an entire roomful of Rangers looked automatically to their wrists and Skye chuckled behind him.

"Relax," Billy said. "It's mine. Looks like you get to actually see one last visitor after all. Clear a space, he's teleporting in." There was a hurried jumping out of the way and a figure, familiar at least to the ex-TurboRangers and the AstroRangers, materialised, immediately recognisable by the enormous red gem glittering in the black armoured chestplate.

"Phantom!" Cassie said starting forward. "You did it!" she said to Billy in awe.

"You get used to that," Jason said, standing behind his friend with a smile. He was still happily entwined with Dulcea. The pair of them had decided that, after all the knowing looks and smirks from the others, they might as well be relatively open about their relationship.

"The Wolf has great intelligence," Dulcea said next to him. "Although his sense sometimes leaves a lot to be desired." And she laughed at Billy's pained expression as his Wolfspirit protested loudly.

The black armoured figure's head whipped around suddenly at the sound of her voice and her laughter in particular, astonishment in every angle of his stance.

"Phantom?" Cassie queried, seeing his hands shaking. "What's wrong?" Then she gasped for Phantom did something totally unexpected. He started to take off his helmet.

A mane of long black hair was revealed, a strong face and a pair of glittering dark green eyes that turned to look at Dulcea's astonished face, meeting her similarly curious gaze.

"No ..." Dulcea breathed, speechless for the first time in centuries.

Everyone stood and watched, looking from one to the other. Dulcea obviously knew who Phantom was, but that didn't help them much. The man passed a gauntleted hand over the ruby in his chest and the armour melted away, leaving him dressed in Ninjetti-style black Robes and the embossed gold sigil of a Lion poised above the large facetted gem still embedded in his chest.

"Kerrin?" Dulcea said, her whisper tinged with astonishment. "But you're ... you were killed!"

"So were you ... weren't you?" Kerrin, the Phantom Ranger, said in a similar tone. "I saw you die ... in the ..."

"...Battle for Eltar!" Dulcea finished. "They told me ... they told me after I had healed that you were dead. They bound me to the Duty on Phaedos to give me purpose to live again."

"They told me the same ... they bound me to the Gem to give me life and gave me my missions ... my revenge on the forces of Evil for taking you from me, forbidding me to go near Phaedos ever again!" Kerrin looked about ready to fall.

Jason was looking increasingly concerned, an odd unsettling sensation creeping over him as he looked between the two. His Lionspirit growled within him, not sensing evil, but more ... _a rival._

Cassie looked at the man she had dreamed about ever since his first appearance, or to be more accurate, his first disappearance, her heart sinking. He was everything that she had dreamed of, but she could tell in that look he gave Dulcea that there was something between them.

"You know Dulcea?" she blurted out.

"Yes ... we were ... to be married," Kerrin said. The assembled Rangers looked on in shock, and Jason blinked, stunned speechless.

"But then - in the battle for Eltar, thousands of years ago, I saw him killed," Dulcea said bluntly. "A Shar'yani Warlord ran you through the chest ... I have lived with that memory ever since ..."

"And he caught you in the stomach as you ran towards him to challenge him ... my last sight of you was of you collapsing to the ground with a mortal wound," Kerrin finished, swallowing.

"We held them long enough for the reinforcements to arrive, apparently. I knew nothing more until I awoke on Phaedos," Dulcea remembered. "They told me you were dead, the Council of the Wise told me you were DEAD!" She stepped forward and the pair embraced each other, holding on and choking back tears.

Jason watched, his heart pounding with fear; his dark expressive eyes looked up and met those of Cassie, mirroring his expression.

__

I'm going to lose her, he thought, staring at the lover's reunion. _Correction, I lost her however many thousand years ago it was when they fell in love!_

Skye touched the Star Crystal, gaining insight into the emotional state of the room and the despair from Jason and Cassie. That would have to be sorted out. Just ... when he was stronger. He gave an inward sigh. He was going to need his strength, now more than ever. Kim glanced at him from across the room and walked over. "You all right?" she asked softly.

"A bit tired. The last mission was tough," Skye said in possibly the biggest understatement of the decade.

"I swear, Skye, you are worse than any of these macho Rangers at hiding when you've got a problem," Kim exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "I'll sort this out." The pink Crane Ninjetti stepped forward. "Everyone ... EVERYONE! Listen up! Plenty of time for this later. I think we should let them get some rest."

The others murmured agreement.

"Just a couple of things before I am forced to bed by Trini ..." Billy said in a strong, quiet voice, smiling as Rocky inevitably picked up on the innuendo in his statement and roared with laughter, setting the others off.

Billy smiled. "Yes ... I might even get some sleep ... anyway. We have completed our recruiting drive for Ninjetti Spirit Warriors, and set in motion repairs and upgrades on the Zords. That much is over, there is no more time left to comb the galaxy. But as our last and rather ... painful encounter taught us, the Nid-hi have within their number Masters of the Great Power. What they can do ... well, let's just say it is imperative that we find the criteria and means to access that level of Power if we are to stand a chance. I was to ask Dulcea if she knew of this ..." Billy looked quizzically at the First Warrior of Phaedos.

Dulcea looked surprised. "Such Powers exist, but the legends and lore of what is required are cryptic. Some is plain enough to decipher, but very few EVER quested for it, and within my tenure as Guardian none have attained it, not even myself."

"What are the requirements?" Tommy asked eagerly.

"A few lines that are inscribed within the Temple walls," Dulcea said succinctly and then recited.

__

"Prove yourself as a Warrior of Spirit and your Path will lead you higher.  
Walk further into the light of the Great Power but beware.  
One alone in the Power will not have the strength to hold it.  
Only those that have known deep loss can stand the gain.  
For those that would Master the Great Power must first have Mastered themselves  
Only to them will the Signs be shown and the Choice given."

She smiled. "Cryptic enough, huh?" she said, looking at their rapt faces.

"But ... what does it mean?" Kat asked, frowning.

Dulcea shook her head. "I am not sure of all of it ... but I do know that you HAD to have lost or given up the Powers to be considered eligible."

"Well ... that wasn't so hard ..." Rocky said with a wry grin. "That's all of us here for a start."

"Joke not, young ape," Dulcea said seriously. "Humans are in the minority for being able to give up the Powers with so little distress. It is a rare and unusual ranger who has managed to do so and stay sane, or live." Billy, Trini and Skye nodded, backing up her statement. The Rangers of Earth looked surprised.

"It's true," Kerrin, the Phantom Ranger, said. "I'm not so badly off with the gem sustaining my life ... if I lost the Powers I would die. Phaedosians do not adapt well to losing the Great Power."

"Aside from us ..." Billy gestured around the room, "there are perhaps a handful of other Ninjetti Spirit Warriors who could be presented as Candidates for a Master Ninjetti Quest on that criterion alone."

"We need that edge," Jason spoke up. "Anything is better than nothing."

Billy nodded. He cleared his throat. "Also ... it became evident that the Nid-hi and the Darkness Visible have not gleaned some vital piece of information from the Council of the Wise. There is a definite implication that the Zha'Kha-rhee'aa is searching for something specific that the Council of the Wise know about ... but maybe because we have Dulcea they do not have all the information they need."

"How do you know that?" Adam interrupted suddenly.

Billy looked down. "I was ... asked for that information," he said. He swallowed slightly. "I don't want to discuss it right now." He gently pushed the enquiry away. Billy's teammates exchanged worried looks as the Wolf Ninjetti continued. "This means the task of getting the Council of the Wise back has escalated in importance back to the top of the list. We have to know what the Darkness Visible is actually after if it is not just galactic conquest. We have to choose what battles to fight if we are to stand a chance of survival."

"Don't you think we haven't been trying to find them all?" Andros said a little shortly, a little sensitive at the implication that they had not found the abducted Mentors. "We don't know where they are!"

Phantom looked around, his alien green eyes glittering brightly. "But I do ..." he said in the silence that descended. "That was where they caught me and twisted me out of phase so I couldn't touch, speak, whatever ... they will think me nullified. Or at least the trail will be fresh. But I can lead you to where I tried to rescue the Wise."

__

And was thwarted by betrayal - do I say that? Best that they do not know yet; I have no proof, just instinct. Kerrin stopped short of saying it all. After all, if there was one traitor, could there not be more? He looked suspiciously at the young Ninjetti hovering near Dulcea. Why would he be so close? He narrowed his cool gaze at the Red Lion, resolving to observe him closely.

The AstroRangers babbled excitedly, wanting to rush off after Zordon immediately.

"Listen ... settle down!" Billy said with a quiet authority in his voice that penetrated through the excitement. Trini and Skye were used to how he had changed, but the others were not and there were a few stunned expressions at him taking control of the situation. "We do not have the power to rescue them as we are, Spirit Warrior Ninjetti or not. After Phantom ... Kerrin's incursion, the Council of the Wise will be guarded by the Nid-hi. I suspect that there is more than one Master of the Great Power among their number, even if the Silver Nid-hi is the most dangerous." Billy's mind drifted back involuntarily to that moment when they had met eye to eye and fear had stolen away a chance of understanding.

Trini covered his lapse in concentration smoothly. "As such ... we need to quest for the next levels of the Ninjetti Power as soon as we can - THEN we go after Zordon."

The AstroRangers looked a little uncertain, but eventually agreed. Andros sighed. "I guess that is wise, but this had better be done swiftly because the Alliance of Evil is starting to strike again at key worlds. There are many refugees in space, looking for a sanctuary of some kind ... I guess they will be heading for Phaedos. The rumours have it that only the wielders of the Great Power can protect them from the coming Evil ... and that is the home of the Ninjetti, after all."

Dulcea looked thoughtful. "I believe it may be time to activate the fleet of Allies that you have made during your quest and summon the Ninjetti to Phaedos. Those who are able will quest for the Master Powers. There is no more room for preparation, for night has fallen and the Darkness comes stalking."

She looked around at the assembled group of Ninjetti and Rangers and declared in a strong, uncompromising voice,

"The War begins NOW!"

### End

* * *

**__**

Authors Note: Thanks as usual to Dagmar for her excellent beta skills - and Mele for prodding me to come up with idea's. One thing I would say - the episode involving Skye's past is based on true life of a friend of mine. She was the woman who someone tried to help and though the person who paid the price for helping may not have been shot, he did spend three weeks in hospital. If this story is dedicated to anyone it is to him and to my friend who eventually managed to find the courage to leave her husband with her two girls despite his threats. Feel free to email me with comments!

   [1]: mailto:VICKY@DUNGER.GLOBALNET.CO.UK



	13. Beyond the Dark Edge of Night

**__**

Disclaimer: I'm distraught and melodramatically overwhelmed that I don't own the Power Rangers, but all the other weird stuff is mine, so hey, guess there is an upside to all this...  
This is the thirteenth in the Sun Goes Down series and the penultimate episode (oh yes, it has a planned ending!). By this time you will be hideously lost if you haven't read the rest of the series, so I would recommend that you look 'em up! Otherwise, read and enjoy! 

### Beyond the Dark Edge of Night  
by Peregrine

"You know, this is starting to have a strange, eerily familiar feel to it," Kim announced, twisting her hair around her fingers as she pondered events thoughtfully.

"Hmm?" Tommy commented, sipping at his drink, tired from another long shift working with the Zords.

"Billy ... and Trini and Skye, actually." Kim said and paused, noticing at least one member of her audience was not paying attention.

"Adam ... Adam!" Kim resorted to throwing a scrunched-up piece of paper at the Frog Ninjetti who was 'resting his eyes', sprawled out on the couch.

"Wha ...?" Adam opened a bleary eye. "What?" he asked grumpily.

"Have you managed to speak to Billy about what happened yet?" Kim asked hopefully.

"Well ... no ... I mean he got back and he then had to configure the computer system at the Power Chamber and initialise the power flow up on the Moon at the Palace. Then he was programming all the Zords with new weapons specs ..." Adam reeled off, beginning to frown as he realised what the Pink Crane Ninjetti was getting at.

"See?" Kim interrupted Adam's recitation. "Ring any bells for anyone else?" She looked at them exasperatedly. "Honestly, do you lot always walk around with your eyes shut ... well, maybe Adam does, but really ...!"

"Hey!" Adam sat up, trying to defend himself. "I'm not that bad!"

Kim sighed at their blindness to events. "Well, I recognise it ... it's what Billy always does to ignore something that has happened to him. Come on, you BOTH know that as well as I do!"

Tommy looked uncomfortable. "I thought it was because he really was very busy, I mean Ninjetti are gathering at Phaedos as we speak, and the Ninjetti trying for the Master Powers are nearly ready to get going ... except for those of us _trying_ to get a bit of rest," he said with feeling and Adam gave a quiet chuckle at that remark.

"Yes ... and once we've done that, no-one will have the time to force them to talk about this," Kim answered in her familiar _'I'm on a mission'_ tone. "And you know what, however busy he is, if he doesn't deal with this before the pressure gets too great, he'll crack and possibly take us with him."

"Kim!" Tommy exclaimed, amazed at her clinical assessment.

She tossed back her hair. "What? It's true. Besides ..." and she looked at them with her expression softening, "he's hurting, and he needs help. I can feel that _here_ ..." she put her hand to her chest. "And I am not about to let that carry on any longer than necessary."

~*~

Billy was working intently on the console, cursing under his breath, wishing that Alpha was there to help him. Such was his concentration that he was totally oblivious to the stalking ambush that was going on. The first thing he knew was the sensation of hands gripping his arms and legs and lifting him bodily away from his work. He struggled, instinctively twisting and about to kick out to get free when he realised who it was who actually had him.

"Easy there, bro ... you could take a guy's eyes out like that." Jason's voice came from somewhere above his head.

"Or other more ... er ... sensitive spots," Tommy added from one of his legs. There was a low, familiar chuckle that indicated that Zack was there, too, manning his other ankle.

Billy stopped struggling. "What are you guys doing? I've got work to do," he protested, trying to look at least one of them in the eye.

"Oh ... end of working hours, Billy," Tommy informed him gravely. "C'mon, Zack, Jase ..."

The Lion Ninjetti grinned and the group of them began to carry Billy away.

"Hey, at least let me down ... Jase! Aw, come on," Billy tried reasoning with his friends.

"What, and let you scamper back to that console? I don't think so - a few words are WELL overdue with you, bro." Jason replied unmovably. "Let's teleport, the others might be there already."

~*~

As it turned out, they were the first ones there, at Billy's familiar garage lab and adjoining room. Jason, Zack and Tommy dumped Billy on the sofa.

"Sit! Stay!" Jason ordered in his best commanding tone as Trini was ushered in, under guard by Tanya, Aisha, Kat and Kim and then in a similarly undignified fashion to Billy, Rocky and Adam brought Skye into the room.

The three Ninjetti righted themselves as a massive delivery of pizza and sodas and assorted junk food items miraculously appeared. Billy, Trini and Skye looked at each other, wondering what had come over their friends.

"Er, guys ... look, this is a nice idea," Billy began, his mouth filling with saliva at the delicious smells wafting from the flat cardboard boxes. "But really we don't have time ... the War has started, remember? The Master Quest is a matter of days away, the space armada of the Darkness Visible has already started to encroach on the territory of the Council of the Wise ... We can't sit here and eat ... is that a Special?" he asked as Kim passed the tantalising pizza his way.

"Just the way you like it ... extra cheese and all," Kim responded, waving a piece under his nose before taking a huge bite from a slice. "Coach Schmidt would probably have a heart attack if he knew I was eating this."

Billy bit into a delicious slice. "Mmm ... but I shouldn't be eating pizza when a galactic war threatens."

Rocky grinned. "It'll still be there tomorrow ... but the pizza won't; I can guarantee that."

The group snorted a little.

"I bet," Aisha said drily, ignoring Rocky's mock-wounded expression.

Trini looked around. "Seriously, what is this all about?" she asked, scanning around the group for some sort of a clue.

They all glanced briefly at Kim whose idea it had been even if it had been Jason and Tommy who pushed it through into action.

"It's about you three. Billy, you are hiding from something ... we know you well enough to know now," Kim said seriously. "We know you had some pretty bad times out there ... and since you got back you haven't talked to anyone about it."

"Yeah," Adam picked up the thread. "You three know about it, but it's going to be ALL of us in this war... and what affects you, affects us. We want to help you and know what happened."

Billy unconsciously shrank back a bit against the sofa. The pizza he was eating was suddenly incredibly interesting and absorbing and he found himself trying to memorise its colour and texture as if studying for a test.

Trini and Skye looked at each other and with the familiarity of such a long time of working together nodded in perfect synchronisation.

"I think that would be a good idea," Trini said softly, glancing at them all with a warning to be gentle in her dark almond eyes.

Skye settled himself on a bean bag half sprawled out across the floor and Trini in a nearby chair, leaving room on the sofa for some of the others next to Billy ... just in case.

"So then ..." Tommy said as they all relaxed, "tell us everything that happened whilst you were away."

The three Ninjetti looked at each other and grinned. "Everything?" asked Skye "We'd be here forever!"

"Well, edited highlights ... as long as you don't leave out the juicy bits!" Kim demanded, leaning forward, her eyes bright at the prospect of gossip. Of course, as always when someone is asked to talk about anything, a deathly hush settled across the room and Kim rolled her eyes heavenwards for patience.

"Talk!" she threatened them with a piece of pizza, and Trini laughed and began with some of the more innocuous stories from their trip into space.

~*~

The story poured out throughout the night, ranging from the incredible, the hilarious, to the dangerous and tragic, all the successes and the failures gradually moving closer and closer to the more painful stories. When one of the Ninjetti faltered, one of their friends gently pressed the issue until they told them everything, if not one being questioned, then one of the others. Trini had cried when she spoke of the misunderstanding that had nearly broken them all apart ... and virtually all the women shed tears when she recited what Billy had said on Veras, much to the Blue Wolf Ninjetti's flaming embarrassment.

And then they drew near the end, to the events that had not been talked about ... not even in passing, blocked from their minds as if they had never happened. Strangely, it was Rocky who kept them talking when the words threatened to be crushed out of the room under the weight of the intense emotions.

"So ... you investigated Chlorak, yes?" Rocky prodded the emotional scars tentatively. "What happened there?"

From the sudden jump in tension all around them, they knew this was the focus of what was troubling the three Ninjetti. Of course they had heard snippets of what happened from the Astro Rangers, but ...

"Dark Spectre." Billy choked on the name a little despite himself and then repeated it more firmly. "Dark Spectre was double-crossing them and we launched in to help. I distracted Dark Spectre and Trini and Skye helped them against the monsters -- Ecliptor and Darkonda. Then ..." he stopped suddenly, freezing up despite his best intentions. It was as if suddenly his tongue had frozen or shut down, rendering him completely mute. He pulled in on himself, looking very vulnerable, suddenly seeming to shrink away from everyone into the dim light.

"Yes?" Tommy asked, leaning forward. He glanced at Jason who somehow casually managed to sit beside Billy without making it too obvious what he was doing. Aisha had manoeuvred herself into a similar position close to Trini, and Adam perched on the arm of the couch next to Billy, near to Trini and Skye as the others closed in an intimate circle around them.

"I don't remember much for a while after that," Billy said, looking away from everyone. _They couldn't know, shouldn't know, it was too much risk ..._

"Trini?" Tanya prompted, focussing upon her when she saw Billy struggling with himself.

The Tiger Ninjetti looked up, reliving that horrific moment in her mind. By common reluctance, after that time on Triforia they had not spoken of what had happened, not even to each other. It had been too raw for any of them, too close, but now she realised that it was time for them all to talk about what had happened, whether they felt ready or not.

She sighed. "Billy was hit point blank by a full blast from Dark Spectre. I thought him dead ... as I turned to see him, the monsters combined forces to destroy us all." She cast a pleading look over to the Star Crystal Ninjetti.

"I threw a shield over them ... to reflect the worst of the blast, but they were all knocked unconscious by the concussion," Skye said, picking up the thread briefly before falling silent

"They? What happened to you?" Kim pressed, looking sharply at Skye who glanced away.

It was like a tag team conversation and Billy replied to this question, as if they were all to a certain extent interchangeable.

"He didn't have the strength to shield himself too - and don't give me that 'I forgot' look; we both know that's just a fake," Billy related, glancing across at the white-haired artist. "From all accounts, he was blown up by the explosion. He was badly injured."

Skye shrugged as if it was of no consequence.

"So that's why you collapsed!" Tommy turned to Kimberly in relief. He'd had horrible thoughts that the tumour might have come back; medical tests had proven that wrong, but left it unexplained. "It must have been that!"

Kim nodded, another mystery explained, but did not want to interrupt this crucial retelling.

"So... what happened to you, Billy?" Rocky pushed a little further.

Billy remained silent for a moment. "I was taken prisoner," he said in a clipped tone that practically screamed that he didn't want to discuss it.

There was an uncomfortable pause as the other Rangers waited for him to elaborate and he retreated into silence.

"Okay, little bro, what happened?" Jason asked softly, using his private nickname for his friend.

"Nothing." Billy said stubbornly. "It's over, I'm fine ... forget about it."

Adam reached over and put a hand gently on his shoulder. "No ... we can't do that -- we tried that way once before, didn't we?" he reminded softly. "And nearly lost you."

"And we don't want to get a reputation for carelessness, do we?" Zack quipped lightly, but there was seriousness in his dark eyes as he leaned forward. "C'mon, man, we're your friends!"

There was a lengthy stubborn silence from the Wolf Ninjetti. Everyone's attention was focussed on him, willing him to break open his uncommunicative shell.

"It is _because_ you are his friends that he doesn't want you to know," a familiar voice murmured from outside the circle of attention.

"Skye!" Billy issued a warning with that single word.

"He believes you won't respect him if you know." The artist addressed the air, ignoring that warning and then fell silent.

The others looked at Billy again. "Why on earth would we think that?" Tommy stated, speaking for the group.

"Because ..." Billy's shoulders sagged in defeat. "Because Dark Spectre broke me, tortured me and broke me ..."

There, it was said, like vile damning curse hanging in the air. "If I had known what he wanted, I would have told him -- told him everything."

Ah. It began to make sense. "But you didn't, Billy," Adam replied quietly. "You didn't betray us or anyone."

Billy became agitated. "Don't you see? I could have -- I _would_ have done it! I could have betrayed you all. Not because of a spell, or because someone else's life was at risk, but because when it came down to it ... I was not strong enough!" He challenged them to refute that statement.

There was no immediate answer from the Rangers. They had never seen Billy like this, emotional and lashing out and frankly, that in itself was upsetting enough to make things difficult to deal with for them.

Billy rested his head in his hands, a picture of despair. "I'm a liability ... who am I to be involved in saving the galaxy when I can't even trust myself to keep my mouth shut?" His muffled tone betrayed the aching hurt that lingered still inside of him. "I can't even DIE successfully to stop it from happening!"

There were a few audible gasps from the room and Trini stared outwards unmovingly, her face a mask of calm and forced serenity. Jason clenched his jaw, stifling an outburst to demand to know exactly what that meant, but someone else beat him to it.

"I think you better tell us _exactly_ what happened," Kim demanded in an uncompromising but compassionate tone.

"I can't!" Billy protested, shaking his head. "I really can't," he started trembling a little, just barely perceptible. He didn't want to go there in his memories, not ever again - and they were making him go back into hell!

"Billy," Trini began, her low voice asking him to reconsider.

"No -- I can't! I can't take the risk!" Billy interrupted, cutting her off.

"Risk what?" Rocky asked, confused.

"Losing you all," Skye said softly from the corner.

"Skye, no, don't,"Billy pleaded in a defeated tone of voice, too weary to fight anymore when it seemed that his companions were also against him.

"Not this time, Billy," Skye replied. "You have to trust them so you can relearn that trust in yourself."

"Skye!" It was nearly a wail of protest. Billy looked ready to bolt and Jason solved that problem by putting his arms around him, holding him despite his half-hearted struggles.

Eventually the Wolf Ninjetti calmed down and turned his head away from the other Rangers, breathing in the familiar scent of Jason's house and home that clung to the Lion Ninjetti's clothes as Skye began to describe every detail of Billy's ordeal in a soft voice, as seen through the Star Crystal. He did not spare any details, he included what Billy had felt, the emotional agony he had suffered when Dark Spectre had shown him the 'deaths' of Trini and Skye, a description that had the Tiger Ninjetti staring unblinkingly into space with a trickle of a tear trekking a smooth path down her face. Skye's quiet voice stripped away all of the protection Billy had tried to build around the experience, leaving him open and vulnerable to his friends in a way he had never thought possible, but even as he heard their stifled reactions to his wanting to die, to his teetering on the lip of life and death held there by a Spider's thread, he still could not bear to look at any of them.

Jason's expression became horrified and then angry as he absorbed what had happened to his longtime friend and what he had been through. It was difficult for them as well, they had to undergo a shift of attitude. They were used to protecting Billy and there was guilt associated with the fact that they hadn't been able to do that, but there was also the dawning realisation that Billy had gone through more than they could imagine, experiences they couldn't easily conceive of ever happening. His arms became less of a restraint than a protective circle and he found himself absently stroking Billy's back soothingly like he had when Billy had lost his mother and stayed with his "big bro" and Jason had found him crying silently in the lonely night.

Billy instinctively responded to the memories this situation produced. Those times he had felt so alone, and then ... he miraculously discovered there was someone there for him after all. A friend to whom he could trust all his darkest secrets and fears. And the miracle was there, wasn't just _one_ of them any more, the protective circle of trust was wider than Jason, it was all of them. It became then a matter of whether he had the courage to trust them and that was easier ... it was himself he didn't trust .

Skye's inexorable quiet murmur finally ceased and silence reigned. There were a few muffled sobs from around the room and Billy found himself standing at a threshold of uncertainty. He knew that when he finally unburied his head from Jason's shoulder that he would either see disappointment, or ... well, he couldn't even imagine the other. It took all his courage to turn his head and it was Adam's eyes he locked onto and held, looking for that answer he dreaded, and finding that he had been asking the wrong questions all along.

Far from drawing away, Adam was reaching forward, far from showing disgust at his weakness he seemed to be respecting his strength. He glanced around. Nowhere did he see any hint of rejection, only sorrow and gentle sympathy, or anger.

A great knot of tension dissolved within him and Billy let out a sigh of utter relief. A fundamental fear had not been realised. The Pack had not rejected him for weakness, had not driven him out or turned on him, instead it was sharing its strength ... he could feel that flowing into him and glanced briefly over at Skye, who was sitting a little outside the circle with the Star Crystal glimmering on his chest.

No-one knew exactly what to say, they just seemed to close together somehow as if physical proximity could reflect the emotional support they wished to give. As it turned out, that was more than enough to progress the healing of the emotional wounds, though maybe not to eradicate all the aftereffects of such an ordeal. One miracle at a time.

~*~

"You realise there is no way we can do this alone," Adam said to Billy eventually as they tried again to spread the workload so they were not all dead with fatigue before the battle actually began. "We _have_ to get help here. There are refugees pouring in towards here and Phaedos from all over the galaxy."

Billy sat back, fiddling with his pen. "They are converting the Palace, yes?"

"It's taking a lot of work, but yes ... but the centre of operations is still here," Adam pointed out, gesturing to the complex around them that was growing every day to house everyone they needed. "And we go on our Quest soon. We need people _here_."

Billy looked around at the busy area. "Hmm ... we need people we can trust. Really trust." He seemed to be seeking inspiration and his gaze lighted on his father. A solution sprang to mind. "Our families," he announced suddenly.

"You're kidding!" Adam exclaimed and then paused, seeing his expression. "You are not kidding."

Billy shook his head. "We don't have anyone else we could trust as implicitly, and we need organisation here now."

"You've obviously met Rocky's mother, haven't you?" Adam commented in a quiet wry voice. "That woman could organise a country!"

"That's good, because she might well end up doing just that," Billy said, and the strangest thing was that there was no hint of a joke in his voice.

Adam shot him a look and nearly said something, but refrained. "Well, it will be a relief ... the excuses have worn a little thin over the years. I'm not creative enough to be terribly believable."

"Fortunately I didn't have that problem," Billy mused. "And my father wasn't overly surprised after the initial shock. Things, er ... kind of made sense to him then."

"It may well to some of our parents, too." Adam sighed, looking a little forlorn. "My father will be very shocked. He regarded the Power Rangers as dangerously unorthodox and promoting violence, though he was in favour of protecting everyone. But he can be counted on once he realises the stakes." _It would be nice to think he was proud of me ... just once. Some things are not meant to be._

Billy smoothed his ruffled blond hair absently as he thought the idea through. "I cannot afford for the governments to get involved before we have set up everything. Too many variables, too much in-fighting. And frankly, if the Darkness Visible is defeated at Phaedos, then there is no reason for them to ever know. Only that one day they might make it to the moon and find a multi-environmental habitat up there."

Adam smiled. "Sort of like climbing to the top of Everest and finding a theme park or something."

Billy quirked a smile. "Yeah," he chuckled. "I'd like to be around to see it."

Adam gave him a sharp look. "Why on Earth wouldn't you be?" he asked, leaning forward in his concern. "Is there something, something else you are not telling us?" He was forceful in his questions, driven by a fear that haunted him that he might lose his friend again

The Wolf Ninjetti looked startled. "Adam ... look, no, it's not like that. Nothing specific, only that ..."

Adam touched his hand. "Only that ... what? Billy?" His dark eyes fixed upon his friend's face, worried at the weariness of spirit that seemed to radiate from his still youthful features.

"Adam ... the last Ninjetti War caused the collapse of a Galactic Empire. The Ninjetti were decimated, Phaedos nigh on destroyed." The Blue Wolf Ninjetti looked frankly at Adam. "A lot of us are going to die ... win or lose. I don't think anyone comprehends the scope of this, save perhaps the Council of the Wise, and Skye, Trini and myself. The Federations of the Council of the Wise and the United Alliance of Evil has made war only possible on a planetary scale ... conquerors want to have something left of what they conquer ..." He trailed off, a sudden thought entering his mind.

__

Wait ... wait ... that's not what the Zha'kha-rhee'aa did as recorded in the Marai Sphere. No... it laid waste to planets. What type of conqueror destroys what he fights for?... Unless he is not fighting for that... Something is definitely missing here.

"Billy? Hey..." Adam shook him to get his attention back. "I said, that's no reason to expect the worst. We will have the Master Powers, they did not ... yes?"

Billy blinked. "Yes ... yes of course, the Master Powers will make the difference," he murmured, trying to sound convincing even to himself.

"And our parents," Adam finished optimistically.

"And our parents, of course."

~*~

In fact, as always, Billy soon got distracted into other things, but he sat down in a private room pouring over snippets of Prophecy, transcripts of the Histories and notes he had made from their journey and his torture at the hands of the Nid-hi and Dark Spectre.

"What is this goddamned Shahin Tara Zed?" he cursed to himself, chewing on the end of the pen anxiously. "The Ninjetti's secret Ultimate Weapon? Boy, that would be a laugh, wouldn't it, Dark Spectre knowing more about it than the people meant to be using it." He screwed up another ball of paper and threw it violently against the wall. Maybe, maybe when they went after the Master Ninjetti Powers that was a part of it. Maybe it would be all revealed then. He sighed, not able to take that as true comfort. 'Maybes' did not win wars.

"What is wrong with this picture?" he queried, his sharp mind starting to piece things together. "What was the Silver Nid-hi after when it questioned my Wolf Spirit?"

**__**

What do all who strive to conquer seek? his Wolf Spirit contributed, joining in the process.

"Power ... of some form or another." Billy rested his head briefly on the desk as he cast his mind desperately through any information. He thought right back to when they had first received the warning that the Darkness Visible was coming. What was it Zordon had said? It had tried to get the powers guarded by the Ancient Ninjetti. That suggested some type of ... object, or Power. Which fitted in with what Dark Spectre had said during his inquisition. He flinched inwardly and then steeled himself again. He couldn't break down any more. The other night had helped, but he still had a long way to go. He knew the others were there for him, but he couldn't let them see that weakness again.

So what was it? Couldn't have been the Master Powers. According to Dulcea, the legends said they had been created after the Ninjetti War by the same great master that had set up the Wardstones. How had they defeated the Darkness Visible the first time? The Histories were conspicuously silent on that front. Hmmmm ... Why couldn't he see it?!

**__**

To see the whole of the pattern, do you look at just one thread? his Wolf Spirit commented. **_Stand back from it and look objectively._**

Billy groaned. "Only I don't have time. We are transporting to Phaedos in a couple of hours. I better see if everyone is ready." He got up stiffly and made his way to the Power Chamber and halted in the doorway, totally amazed.

The place was packed with people, friends and family of the various Rangers, all talking at once, in some cases loudly, and in others just standing wide-eyed with shock and awe. Billy froze, hoping to slip out; after all it was a little difficult to face people you had lied to on a daily basis, whatever the cause.

"There he is ... Billy ...!" Rocky called him over. "Mama, I TOLD you Billy was here."

"I still don't believe it." The short stocky Mexican-American woman shook her head. "All this time? And Adam, too? But his father never approved of the Power Rangers ... all that violence." She blanched, looking at her son again as that realisation impinged on her consciousness. "Rocky, you could have been killed!" she exclaimed, her voice a balance of anger and anxiety.

"Believe me, I've been through the same with Billy," Hank Cranston reassured the woman before she could get too deeply traumatised. "It took me a long time to actually accept that they were the ones responsible for saving us on a daily basis." His voice projected across the din and the other parents fell silent.

"Much as any parent hates to admit it, our kids grew up a LOT faster than we thought, much faster than any youngsters really should. They had the responsibility for life and death of us all - every day. Imagine that. Knowing that if you failed, your parents and brothers and sisters could die, not just once, but every day for years. I have heard some of the tales of what happened during those years and you will probably react the same as I did, with horror, with anger and then with utter pride that MY child could have achieved all this and never spoken a word. " Hank looked around at the silent room. "And now, they need _us_. I think you should listen to what they have to say."

Billy expected Dulcea to step forward, but she stayed where she was. He then expected one of the others to step forward, Tommy, Jason ... but they didn't. To his alarm he discovered that he was the focal point of the room's attention. Well then.

"Welcome to the Power Chamber," he said in an initially soft voice, and to his surprise they were all listening. "I don't know how much you have been told, but I will do a brief summary. As you know we all were ... and still are Power Rangers. As such we took on a responsibility to protect others and over the past two years or so we have become aware that there was more than Angel Grove and Earth that needed protecting. However strange this may seem, however distant and removed at this point in time, there is a galactic conflict brewing the likes of which is beyond our comprehension and the Ninjetti are the only ones who can fight it." Billy paused, looking around at his audience. "And _we_ are Ninjetti. We find ourselves outnumbered and despite our desperate preparations, in need of a lot of help, particularly as we need people to be fighting, so we come to those we trust most. Our families."

There was a simple dignity in that statement and Billy was grateful he knew that his father had accepted his role wholeheartedly. "In an hour, a group of us will be questing for the fabled Ninjetti Master Powers that will hopefully give us a fighting chance against this ancient enemy that threatens all planets. I really hope that you will see your way to assisting us ... because now we really need all the help we can get."

**__**

Nice speech ... I thought you were the one for whom communication was a torture from hell? His Wolf Spirit spoke within him.

__

Well, guess I learnt a few things whilst were were away, Billy said. He still didn't like it, but he could do it now.

The murmuring rose around him and he studied them. They would help, he could feel it. If nothing else, it would be to make up for the years when they didn't know they were being helped by their own children. Parents tended to be funny that way and he grinned a little to himself at the thought.

He met his father's look and Hank smiled and nodded, beaming with pride. The Wolf Ninjetti waited for the information to be discussed for a few minutes and then asked one simple question during a natural lull. "Will you help us?"

Silence reigned for a moment before a few silent nods gave way to Lilian DeSantos stepping forward. "Of course we will, you need some experienced organisation. If the fate of the galaxy rests on the shoulders of people who once forgot to take any food on a three-day camping trip ..." and some of the Original Rangers blushed, "I think you need some looking after."

There were a few muffled giggles. "Either that or go really hungry through the whole thing," Kim said drily.

"You are our children," Diane Scott said firmly. "Adults or not, saving the universe or not, you are still our children ... and we will not turn away from you when you need our help." She smiled. "It _is_ a little different from being casually asked to make a costume for the school pageant the night before."

Jason chuckled. "It was a very good costume, though."

"Naturally," his mother replied in a superior tone and laughed, breaking some of the tension.

Billy relaxed. Good, they had reliable support in the Power Chamber. Now to the Quest.

"Guys, we'll be teleporting out in half an hour," he advised. "My Dad will help orientate everyone to what they can help with, but in the meantime we _have_ to get ready."

He smiled again and then backed out of the room, feeling a little sick at having had to face all of them like that.

"You did well." Skye walked up behind him quietly as the others talked excitedly to their parents. It was with a pang of conscience that Billy remembered that Skye did not have that option.

"I'm being graded?" Billy asked lightly.

"It's a pass or fail thing," Skye answered back with only a hint of humour in his voice. He looked oddly serious and withdrawn.

"You alright?" Billy asked concernedly. "You look a little ... down."

Skye flashed him a brief smile. "Just a little preoccupied, that's all."

"Skye ..." Billy said, worried. "Is there something you are not telling me?"

The Star Ninjetti hesitated, seemingly on the edge of telling him something."Yes, there is ... and I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what ... not yet." He smiled. "Don't worry. See you in a little while." Without waiting for a reply, he walked down the corridor to his room to get changed.

Billy stared after him, the hairs prickling on the back of his neck. If there was one feeling he had, it was that he would not like the answer whenever he found out what it was.

~*~

It took him very little time to change. Invoking his Spirit Warrior armour, even the semi-complete version was a matter of words. Resplendent in blue and grey, he strode purposefully down to the Power Chamber again. They HAD to do this, there was no other hope for them. If they got the Master Powers, then they had a faint chance; if they didn't, they could not stand against the Nid-hi, let alone their Master, the Darkness Visible.

The room was filled with an array of colours as the Spirit Warrior Ninjetti assembled and as he looked around, he saw a dawning realisation in the eyes of their parents of what was happening. Suddenly in front of them were not their sons and daughters, but a group of expert warriors, whose expertise showed in their casual movement within the fierce armour they had donned. Trini, in her dazzling Gold and White joined him, looking around for a moment before nudging him. "Time to go, Billy."

"Wait, where's Skye?" Billy reached out mentally and turned, sensing him. He was there, dressed in a soft form of the Ninjetti robes, in grey and white. He smiled back and the Star Crystal glittered like frost on his chest, and the Marai Sphere blazed like fire in his hand.

"He's here," Trini said. "Let's go."

They assembled the group and Billy nodded to his father. "Wish us luck," he said spontaneously, feeling that they would need it.

There was a chorus of well wishes as the interplanetary teleport began.

~*~

When they materialised on Phaedos, the barren landscape was packed with a large selection of alien races and strange Ninjetti Rangers. It was immediately apparent that the vast majority of those present were from Earth and that in itself pulled at a few threads in Billy's mind. But as he stood there, he was immediately mobbed by old friends from their quest.

"Billy," he was hailed by a familiar voice.

"Delphine, Cestro!" Billy grinned, pleased to see the Aquitians "I see you made it."

"It is an honour to be included," the new Aquitian Ninjetti Spirit Warrior replied.

"I see Cestro was correct," Billy observed, seeing her Animal Spirit Emblem on her armour in the stylised form of a graceful bird.

"Yes indeed. The Vasherel found me worthy," the White Ninjetti said, her hand signal exhibiting 'remembered joy'. "And Cestro was chosen by the Celepha, the wisest of the creatures of Aquitar."

"Like a whale," Billy mused, checking his memory for an earthlike comparison. "Congratulations, both of you; I just wish you and the others had more chance to explore your Powers before we have to do this." He sounded a little worried. What was he doing? Leading them all here? They had come because he had summoned them after all. What if something happened to them?

He had no time to think before he was approached by a group of other strange races. J'shaar of the Drakin, some of the Ayaho Rangers amongst others.

Kat stood beside Rocky and Justin, watching in amazement. "This brings it home a bit," she said in an aside. "I mean, Billy, Trini and Skye actually MET all these people." She brushed her blonde hair back in a nervous reaction. "I know I knew it before but I didn't actually _know_ it."

"I know what you mean, Kat." Rocky said nervously. "I am seeing bugs over there taller than Tommy, aren't I?" he asked plaintively. Not sure if he wanted the answer to be yes.

"If it's a dream you've got the rest of us in here, too." Aisha prodded him. "And frankly I'd rather not be in one of your dreams, I'll leave that to Kat."

Tommy and Jason chortled behind the Yellow Bear Ninjetti and then tried to look innocent as Rocky gave them a pained look.

Justin bounced back to them excitedly. "Anyone see those guys? They are the Shri, and live close to the centre of the galaxy ... can you imagine that? Wow. They've got this sort of prosthetic pincer which can ..."

"Justin!" Tanya shushed the youngster.

"What? If you think that's incredible, the Ronani and the Chi'iten are something else ..."

"Dulcea is waiting to speak," Tommy pointed out to the youngest Ninjetti there.

"Oops." The Blue Dolphin Ninjetti fell quiet.

Silence swept over the ruins of the Temple as the assembled group of species from the far-flung reaches of the galaxy waited to hear the words of the First Warrior of the Ninjetti.

"And so the time has come." Dulcea spoke out into that expectant hush. "You have come once more, selected for your potential to quest for the Master Powers that are spoken of as legend even amongst the Ninjetti to whom they belong. As such we know little of them and some of us may not be suitable, but it is our hope that there will be enough that prove worthy to have those Powers bestowed on them and use them in the protection of all. This may come as a surprise to you, but I know little more than you about this. We stand here as equals now, on a Quest together."

That created a bit of a stir amongst the assembled Ninjettis. Dulcea smiled, conscious of Jason's constant gaze upon her. "From this point, everything is new and all we can do is follow the Quest and hope that the secret of the Temple that is passed to the First Warrior is not a myth."

"What secret, Dulcea?" Adam asked in the pause that followed as everyone watched the Owl Ninjetti stride over to Skye who looked up expectantly.

Dulcea smiled. "All in good time, my young Frog."

She held out her hands and Skye presented her again with the Marai Sphere into one hand and she very gently removed the Star Crystal from around his neck with her other. The artist looked somehow bare without the strange item and reached to that now empty place on his chest before giving a sigh. Trini watched him anxiously, as he looked surprisingly vulnerable and sorrowful when Dulcea walked away with the glittering crystal. That wasn't right; he shouldn't be parted from the Star Crystal, it was his only protection and it was powerful protection. But, Dulcea had taken it and gone to the raised secret area of the Temple, gesturing for them to follow, which they did, falling unconsciously into the stylised movement of ritual as if the Temple was speaking to their very bones. Dulcea was singing, a haunting refrain in a low sweet alto voice, repeating over and over ... and one by one, they joined her. It was a simple repetition of melodic syllables, but profoundly moving nonetheless as she carefully slotted the Orb reverentially on top of a dais and then took the Star Crystal and positioned it very carefully in line.

There was a flare of light that momentarily blinded them all and reminded Billy of the Triple Eclipse at Triforia. However, instead of the Pyramid that split apart to reveal answers, the Temple itself blazed with colour and a shimmering map, sculpted from light, sprang into existence around them.

Rocky reached out and touched the shapes of light around him in a kind of awe. "Wow."

"This was what you protected, Rocky of Earth," Dulcea said, smiling with delight, equally as excited as they were. "If this had fallen into the hands of the Nid-hi, then the Ninjetti and all the galaxy would be lost. For they would have known where the Master Powers were hidden and even if they could not take them as their own ... they could destroy them. "

She was smiling again and looked around at them all. "Until the Star Crystal came to Phaedos, this secret could never be tested, and now it proves to be true, as I believe will the Master Powers. Memorise the Map ... for we have a perilous journey to make, and on it we will be tested for our suitability to hold those powers."

The assembled Ninjetti Spirit Warriors did so and with eager discussion, they grouped together and set off into the dreamlike unknown on their Quest, leaving the map of Light blazing in a beacon of hope behind them.

~*~

It all seemed somehow unreal to Billy. That they were suddenly here, and everything was happening all at once. After literally years, it was coming down to moments in time and the feeling was disconcerting, to say the least. The large group was making good time through the dense foliage and with the image of their destination emblazoned in his mind he was sure that they could do this. He mentally looked around; Skye was straggling somewhat and looking a little vulnerable without the Star Crystal. _Why hadn't they picked it up and..._

A strange lassitude washed over him suddenly and he shook his head. What was he thinking about?

"I don't like this," Adam said uneasily, watching the undergrowth suspiciously. "This has been too easy, too much like a stroll in Angel Grove Park."

"And we all know what happened anytime anyone strolled in Angel Grove Park," Zack commented flippantly. "Screams, mayhem, ugly little monsters ... and that was just the kids!"

Kim and Aisha giggled slightly at his irreverent remark.

"This is creeping me out," Kim admitted after a while, glancing around nervously. "I remember the first quest. Somehow I don't imagine this to be easier than that ... and I thought THAT was tough."

"You get a fireswamp, too?" Tanya asked curiously.

"No ... bone dinosaurs, weird statues, that sort of thing," Aisha recalled.

"Do you remember when Rocky nearly lost his ... er ..."

"Please," Rocky interrupted. "I still wake up at nights thinking about that. Just as well being a Ninjetti means I can do the splits."

"Hmm. Thank God!" Kat said with more fervour than she intended, which started the others laughing.

And out of nowhere, the ground began to shake.

"Earthquake!" someone yelled. Cestro placed a hand on the ground, feeling the vibrations. "No, that is a ... sensation of something ... alive. And of considerable size," he announced.

Billy turned immediately to Skye. "Skye, can you sense - oh." Of course not; he didn't have the Star Crystal! Dammit, talk about stupid! Why hadn't they picked that up?

"Run!" Tommy yelled. "Get to cover!" He pointed to a small hill. "Up there! We need to see what we are up against."

That prompted a hasty retreat as the large group sprinted for higher ground. Tommy reached the top first, along with J'shaar of the Drakin and both Rangers turned and gasped. The shaking was caused by a stampede of dinosaurs fleeing from ... something. The creature that was pursuing them was hideously like a massive feline, lithe despite its mass and shape and moving at speed, only its muscles rippled under scales instead of fur and its tail was barbed. And it was equally the size of one of the dinosaurs whose bones littered the Neola forest.

A connection that Billy made suddenly. There had to be a dinosaur predator, something had to have killed those things in the first place. He looked down, seeing Skye struggling up the slope and mentally tallied the presence of all the Ninjetti.

Jason was counting them in, too. "Everyone here? Defensive ring now!" he ordered. "Dulcea, what are those things?" he asked urgently, automatically sizing up the danger.

"Aglaeca! They are meant to be extinct!" Dulcea replied, astonished, gripping her Singing Staff in readiness. "If it has our trail, then we have a _big_ problem ... and they rarely hunt alone!"

Sure enough, flanking the stampeding herd another aglaeca shot out to head off the stampede, only it struck too soon and the herd bolted for a small canyon and scattered, leaving the aglaeca hungry and preyless. There was a harsh roar of disappointment and yet another, larger, if that was possible, aglaeca stalked out of concealment, its tail whipping from side to side with agitation.

"Oh man," Jason murmured, looking at the third monstrous form. They were not happy monster predators, angry and irritated and unfortunately hungry.

"I agree, this is a problem," Delphine said appraisingly. "It is the nature of a predator to seek easy prey after a hunt goes awry. Compared to those others we would fall into that category."

"No kidding," Rocky agreed, looking a little anxious. The aglaeca were the size of mammoths, or something!

"As long as we stick together, we won't be as easy as they think," Tanya added determinedly.

"Let's not lose sight of our goal," Tommy reminded firmly, looking in the direction of where the map of light had shown the Master Powers to be located.

"We have no time for discussion, we have to move!" Kat interrupted urgently. "Look!"

The aglaeca were heading their way. Unbelievably fast.

"Might I suggest we try and find some natural obstacles to place between them and us?" Cestro pointed out. "From memory I recall there, at the northern edge of the fire swamps, a chasm and a river..."

"If we swing north then," Tommy agreed, more hopeful now he had a direction. He turned to shout and then realised that would attract attention.

"Here, I'll do it." Rocky gripped his Spirit Crystal and with effort pushed the thought into the Spirit Crystals of the others. _Heading North, to fire swamps...move out!_

"Thanks," Jason nodded, appreciating the effort.

"Save your breath," Rocky replied, turning swiftly. "And let's go, I'd rather not be eaten by something that sounds like a cat coughing up a furball." And the Red Ape Ninjetti grinned as they altered directions and ran again.

The Ninjetti Spirit Warriors ran, but the aglaeca were fast and Tanya noted with concern that people were lagging a little. "We're drifting," she advised Jason and Tommy. "We're losing Skye at the back, and the Shri aren't built for this sort of chase."

They grimaced. Rocky was concentrating. "The Ronani Ninjetti just told me they have lost sight of one of the aglaeca. Could be trying to flank us."

"This is not a good thing," Cestro pointed out, rather stating the obvious.

"There is a scent from ahead too," J'shaar mentioned quietly.

"We'll just have to be wary as we go," Tommy replied, concerned. "Rocky, could you ...?"

"Already done," the Red Ape Ninjetti answered, having informed everyone.

And yet, when the attack came they were still unprepared for its ferocity. The largest aglaeca pounced in a pincer movement, scattering the group of Ninjetti as if a rainbow had shredded beneath its fearsome claws.

Zack agilely rolled away, bounced upwards and in a fluid movement leapt over the tree-trunk tail with its poisonous barbs to push one of the Shri out of danger. The aglaeca roared, its tail whipsnapped back at impossible speed, pinned Zack beneath its poison barbs and he cried out in pain.

Aisha took one look at what had happened and her response was instinctive and immediate. She attacked. With an unstoppable momentum, she leapt at the creature, hacking with such fierce determination that it seemed she would not stop until she had made it all of the way through and freed Zack.

Tanya, automatically keeping tabs on everyone, yelled to Tommy in alarm. "Zack's down!"

Billy was poised, ready to jump in and paused, his mind whirring, thinking of keeping them safe and of their ultimate goal - the Master Powers. "Based on their previous behaviour, they are surrounding us and will close in ... we need to separate them," he explained swiftly. "We need to divide their attack - fireswamp, bridge, and river," he said to the leaders of the group, gesturing in the different directions.

"Three groups. Jase, go!" Tommy ordered and Jason nodded, already moving. The Falcon Ninjetti whirled, seeking another he knew as a leader. "Delphine!"

"The strategy is sound." The Vasherell Ninjetti turned to implement the plan with alacrity.

Jason sprinted, yelling to various Ninjetti around him to fall in and deliberately cut across the path of the second reptilian predator, causing it to snap at the tempting morsel as he and a third of the group split and ran for the fireswamps.

Simultaneously, Delphine let out a shockingly loud battlecry and led her impromptu team across the path of the third aglaeca, heading towards the water with the implacable thunder of the distracted dinosaur-killer pounding along behind them.

The threat of their attack gone, Tommy and the remaining Ninjetti launched a rescue attempt to get Zack out from under the barbs of the remaining monstrous creature left behind in the clearing.

~*~

Jason ran, trying to formulate a plan while he did so. Aimless running was _not_ going to help much. The creature was too close, they needed a breathing space. Dulcea was moving silently through the mixed terrain off to one side. J'shaar was bounding with incredible speed up ahead, and Kat and Rocky were helping the Shri, who were designed for desert conditions, not this sort of pursuit through rough terrain

**__**

Make use of the resources available, his Lion Spirit advised. Jason bit back an urge to retort _'No, really? Tell me something I don't know,'_ but concentrated instead.

"J'shaar, Adam, we need something to slow it down ... Dulcea? We might need a diversion at some point in the not-too-distant future," he suggested.

The Drakin Ninjetti and Adam darted off ahead and Dulcea slipped off into the undergrowth, becoming invisible almost immediately.

Adam and J'shaar moved swiftly, hunting desperately for a way out of this and found a deep gulley further up ahead. J'shaar leapt over it and scouted across the other side while Adam paused.

"Pitfall ... yes!" He began dragging scrub and foliage over the trench to give the illusion of solid ground and called back to Rocky through his Spirit Crystal._Rocky - I am disguising a natural trench ... up here!_ He imaged where he was to the Red Ape Ninjetti. _Tell Jason._

Got it. Rocky responded as simultaneously another thought impinged on his consciousness.

__

Rocky of Earth! J'shaar's mental presence appeared in the Red Ape's mind. _I have discovered the edge of the swamp. There is a massive buildup of the firegas under the surface - I can smell it. We cannot go across. We will have to fight here._

Got it, thanks. Rocky grimaced and ran to reveal this to Jason immediately. "Good news - Adam is disguising a trench as a pitfall. Bad news - there's so much fire gas buildup ahead that we can't cross the swamp."

"Damn." Jason looked thoughtful. His mind turned over how to use that to their advantage. "We need the time to set up to fight up there ... we need bait to lead it directly to the trap."

Kat immediately volunteered. "I'll do it. You get the Shri and prepare to fight.."

"Kat, I can't let ..." Rocky protested immediately.

"I'm faster than all of you," Kat pointed out, taking a stance. "Anyway, there's no time to argue. Go!"

Rocky looked anguished, but Jason ordered them to flee, picking up Adam as they circumvented the trap and began to find defensive positions on the swamp's edge. He had a glimmer of an idea about a way to fight this creature, but he had to wait ... he could already hear the thundering sprint of the predator and its frustrated scream.

Kat waited until the snarling visage swung out of the undergrowth; then she sprinted, her heart thumping, her instincts screaming with the most primal need to evade the predator behind her. Damn, but it was fast, and obstacles she leapt over it just ploughed through. All to the good ...

A snap of great teeth behind her, the stink of carrion breath hot against her back and she pushed herself faster ... faster, running as the cheetah runs, with its whole being, not just its legs. She burst out of the tree cover, seeing the glimmering colours of the others. Rocky, from up ahead, _saw_ and projected into her mind, Kat _felt_ the moment of instinctive warning and sprang into the air. The impetus of her escape stayed with her, she executed a dazzling diving twist mid-air as the aglaeca snapped its jaws forward to catch its prey and she evaded the jaws by contorting her body away. The aglaeca braked and slid on the slick swamp mud, half falling into the ooze-filled gulley, floundering unsteadily.

Kat bounced and gasped, winded from the impact; then Rocky was there, picking her up and running as the aglaeca flailed hopelessly and then eventually dragged itself out of the gulley trap, infuriated.

It stalked forward, ready to rend anything limb from limb and saw only ...

... a solitary prey dressed in Red, standing on what seemed to be an island, defenceless and seemingly open to its hunger.

Growling, it stalked forward suspiciously and the Lion Ninjetti roared back a challenge. It stopped snapping, wary of the unstable ground, but the morsel was _so_ tempting! It stepped closer, closer and swiped at the prey-thing. It made another sound and more prey-things attacked from behind, causing it to whirl and whip its tail, trying to pounce forward.

"Now!" Jason yelled urgently.

"We lost the Shri!" Rocky bellowed back, ducking under the tail.

"Do it now, or we will all be lost!" Jason ordered. _Minimise the losses ..._

Adam, Rocky, J'shaar, Kat and Dulcea threw some crude sticks into the ground in a circle around the beast as hard as possible. There was a hiss and a stench of phosphine gas as they crudely needled the gas pocket J'shaar had sensed.

"Move!" Jason shouted as one of the jets flared ... and then another, and a ring of fire billowed upwards.

__

Light blue touchpaper and...retire. Jason was within the circle of flame, harassing the creature with a branch until the others were clear ... and the heat of the fire burned his skin, making it taut and shining with sweat. The aglaeca panicked, sweeping around, looking for a way out. The flames were too high and the prey-thing poked at it with something sharp. It bellowed and snapped downward at him, plunging its fangs down to crush the tormenting prey-thing. Jason threw himself sideways through the flames as the monstrous teeth pierced the top of the firegas bubble and it exploded upon contact with the air.

At first he thought it was the roar of the flame and the force of the reaction that was carrying him through the air, but eventually his dazed mind registered the fact that he had been snatched out of the fire by a familiar presence. A soft cool hand caressed his burnt cheek gently as he sat down, the screams of their adversary finally dying away in the furnace heat.

"Dulcea," Jason said, unaccountably relieved. He had not known where she was in the battle and was afraid he had lost her too -- as well as the Shri. Out of nowhere she had come and saved him ... but the others -- they had to go help them.

Just as soon as he could move.

~*~

Delphine and Cestro were not built to run across land either, but upon Tanya's suggestion, their group took it in turns to run across the path of the beast and distract it when one of them tired.

"Can these things swim?!" Kim asked, running flat out and starting to feel a little winded.

"They look like they're not adapted that way," Justin replied, some of his usual exuberance dampened by their mortal peril. "Too much muscle mass." He ducked, seeing a protruding branch ahead.

The aglaeca roared as Trini, who was acting as decoy, vanished from its view and then seemingly appeared almost instantly somewhere else, attracting its attention anew.

"Wish I knew how she did that," Kim gasped out, wincing as they headed into dense shrub that would slow _them_, but not the bulk of the aglaeca. Two of the Chi'iten skittered forward and in perfect unison began slicing through the obstructing mass with their forearm blades of sharp chitin.

"Good thinking," Delphine praised, glancing back at their pursuer. "Where is the river, I cannot see it?" She peered intently as Tanya shook her head.

"Can't see a thing ... or any sign of the others!" she called.

"I need to see!" Delphine demanded and Cestro divined her intention; without missing a step he turned as the Vasherell Ninjetti ran up, leapt up on his cupped hands and was flung into the air in a boosted somersault.

As she tumbled skywards, using the vantage point of the clear air, Delphine glimpsed the flash of water to their left and felt the brush of a breeze as the reptilian predator tried to knock her from midair with the whistling whipsnap sweep of its barbed tail.

"Left! Go ... go!" Delphine ordered as the aglaeca regained its balance and roared in frustration, seeing the prey-things scatter again.

They burst out of the undergrowth and onto a steep bank above a wild and swift river. Delphine paused. Too little time to try and cross it, the aglaeca was here!

The monstrous creature was upon the group and snapping with its great teeth at the prey- things. Justin yelped as a sharp taloned claw half the size as he was knocked him over in a tumbling heap.

"JUSTIN!" Kim somersaulted, grabbing a large flat stone and using it as a shield as that claw came down again to pierce and rend. It was an impossible sight, the petite Ranger slowly being pushed down by the immense power of the enormous dinosaur predator, but still she struggled and held.

Tanya yelled out, trying to attract attention. "Everyone ... together, attack it together, distract it!"

The group of them complied and the aglaeca, irritated by the distraction, roared and turned to swipe at the annoying prey-things.

Kim gasped and staggered to one side, when she was buffeted by the massive bulk against Tanya. Trini yanked Delphine clear, appearing from nowhere as the aglaeca tried to pounce. The earth shook, then the bank crumbled and slipped. There was a scream and some buzzing of alarm as Justin and some of the Chi'iten tumbled into the raging torrent.

"No!!" Trini cried out in horror. "Justin! "

The aglaeca drowned her cries with its own deafening scream of disappointment. Cestro however, had seen in their loss of their companions a potential for the removal of their enemy. He grabbed a large branch and with a careful gaze thumped the ground and placed his hand on the soil as the vibration flowed and the aglaeca wheeled to the new stimulus. He side-stepped slightly and roared a challenge to the creature, much to the astonishment of the others.

"Cestro! No!" Delphine called out, a far cry from the unemotional Aquitian they knew.

The aglaeca pounced and the softened edge of the bank cracked and slipped as it yowled, unsettled.

"Now!" Tanya yelled out again. "Everyone - push!"

Ridiculous though it seemed that such a small group could topple the monster, with it unbalanced and all of them straining, eventually the entirety of the ground dropped away, the aglaeca filling the air with its panicked roars and scream as it tumbled, its great claws gouging the soft earth but finding no purchase as it dropped into the water. Justin's assessment proved correct; it was not built to swim. It practically sank to the riverbed, thrashing uncontrollably in its drowning agony.

Shaking and weak with fatigue, the remaining Ninjetti looked at each other, too shocked to mourn their losses and in a trembling silence began to head back to find out how their companions and the ones they loved had fared.

~*~

Billy jumped again and then scrambled underneath the aglaeca as Tommy's familiar battle cries rang out in the clearing. Their adversary was too large and too powerful to beat by main force, but they had to get Zack clear. The barb had snapped off in his leg and Skye had yanked it out, then applied a tourniquet but had been somewhat hampered in his efforts by the ferocious attack.

"Billy ... what the hell are you doing?" Tommy shouted.

"Buying us time," Billy yelled back, barely avoiding the flashing claws. _When you can't fight fair, you fight dirty!_

He took his sharp splintered stick, the best he had been able to grab, rolled towards the ample evidence that this aglaeca was male and, wincing inwardly, jabbed the crude spear into that very sensitive area.

The aglaeca screamed and reared up rolling automatically, trying to rid himself of the agonising splinter. And swiping at Billy as he scrambled away. The Wolf Ninjetti felt the rip of cloth and a brief stinging pain as he escaped not quite unscathed.

"Let's get out of here!!" he ordered and Tommy grabbed Zack, who was conscious if dazed, and ran. They had lost the Ronani in the battle and they were down to just five of them. The Ninjetti sprinted in the direction of the bridge, on the other side of which was the structure that housed the Master Powers according to the map of Light. The thump on the ground bore testament to the fact that the aglaeca was in pursuit and more enraged than ever_._

Run ... run... the bridge, bridge of stone! Damn! He had been hoping to cut it! Cut the bridge and ensure their safety - not with stone ... damn!

"Go, go! " Tommy yelled, sending Aisha and a semi-conscious Zack across. Billy was next to arrive. Tommy realised why he was lagging when he turned to called for Skye, and his back was soaked with blood.

"Shit ... Billy, get over there, we need to get the Master Powers to beat this thing!" Tommy ordered, totally sure that they needed the team genius to get access to the Master Powers.

"Skye isn't here," Billy replied with a gasp. His back was numb and he fought a growing cold lethargy seeping into his body.

"None of us will be if we don't get those Powers!" Tommy snapped. He glanced over, catching sight of other figures approaching from left and right.

"Jason! Delphine -- move! It's still coming ... MOVE!" he bellowed to the limping, exhausted groups, who obediently broke into shambling runs. The White Ninjetti noted their depleted numbers with concern, but relaxed imperceptibly as he saw Kim stumble across.

"Across the bridge! Everyone!" Tommy shouted again as the aglaeca thundered out of the jungle, only just preceded by Skye.

"Skye!" Trini gasped as Billy checked her and ran to the entrance to the Master Powers Monolith. A complex three-dimensional puzzle lock faced him and he began moving his hands rapidly; the lock slipped intricately like a mandala of stone and metal as he strove to make it fit into place.

The aglaeca was still coming ... and if it made it across the bridge, it would destroy them.

"Bil-leeeeee ..." Tommy called as the beast approached.

"Couple of minutes," Billy answered, feeling dizzy. He couldn't move any faster without making mistakes, and he couldn't afford _that_ when dealing with a tri-logic spatial problem.

"We don't have that long; the Master Powers won't be any good without Ninjetti to hold them!" Tommy pointed out.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Billy replied tersely, his mind accelerating and trying to force his fingers to follow at the same speed.

__

Not going to be quick enough, Tommy thought. They were neatly trapped and cornered. The chasm he had thought would protect them now trapped them. He would have to do something ... but what, he didn't know.

He turned around. "Any bright ideas?" he asked the others a little desperately.

There was no response ... the aglaeca began a run towards them, death in its approach.

Billy frantically tried to open the lock, but he could only move so fast ... there was a yell of protest and a scream, and he glanced over his shoulder to see.

Skye walked out towards the charging beast and it snapped its ferocious jaws around his body in a shockingly swift movement. There was a strangled scream from the artist as he was lifted in the jaws of the predator.

"Skye!" Trini wailed and there was a shriek of pain from Kim as the resonance echo from Skye hit her.

"Why? There was no point!" Tommy groaned and then ... they saw Skye's arm move slowly and thrust at the tongue.

The final aglaeca flinched only a little and readjusted the prey in its mouth. Skye's body went totally limp as the teeth pierced him and his grey robes crimsoned with blood.

"No..." Billy felt the coldness of shock hit him with physical force, robbing him of breath.

The creature advanced and staggered slightly. Billy noted absently that the massive pupils were oddly dilated.

"He poisoned it! He used its own barb ... it's woozy!"

Tommy looked around, hope springing forth once more. "Right," he stated and watching carefully, he turned, ran, sprinted and soared through the air, angling to strike the aglaeca in its glazed eye. The devastating blow caused it to flinch back and stagger; in its mildly dazed state it slipped and with a despairing shriek toppled over the edge of the bridge into the swirling mists of the chasm - taking its prey with it.

And with tears rolling down his cheeks Billy completed the lock puzzle and the Master monolith cracked open and a bright, bright light consumed them all.

~*~

Skye stirred and shot up with a gasp. _Tumbling into darkness, the feeling of teeth in his flesh, pushing deeper, the warmth of blood gushing over him with the pain and then ..._

He was awake, still in the Temple of the Ninjetti, and all around him lay the still-tranced forms of the assembled Ninjetti, touched by the strange glimmer emanating from the Star Crystal. Some of them ... Justin, the Ronani, some of the Chi'iten and the Shri were touched by a different colour. He groaned and turned sharply, sensing a presence.

"So ... you waken into reality once more." A man's voice, unfamiliar to him, spoke from near the Star Crystal, still glittering potently where Dulcea had placed it.

"Who ... who are you?" Skye pushed himself up.

"The Guardian." The blue-armoured figure said. "In the Ninjetti tongue, the Nin-jor." He smiled. "I've held the Duty long enough for that to be my only name now."

"Ninjor..." Skye looked down at himself and then at the tranced unmoving figures still held by the influence of the Star Crystal. "We are still at the Temple? It wasn't real?"

"Why would Dulcea guard Temple ruins? She did not know, but the Master Powers have always been here." Ninjor laughed. "And the Quest is VERY real ... in the most important respect."

"But I died ... and we lost people," Skye pointed out. "I failed the test ... big time, I would have thought."

Ninjor waggled a guantleted finger at the Star Ninjetti. "No, no ... the Quest is so those eligible can show their inner Choice."

Skye frowned, not sure what was going on. "I ... don't understand."

"You all have Animal Spirits ... and Animal Spirits can lay claim to the Great Power, but their aspect is determined by the instinct of their Chosen," Ninjor explained. "The Master Powers have to draw from a primal instinct of the self, a natural reaction in times of danger. Understand?"

"Yes; I think I do ... what about them?" Skye pointed to the differently shrouded Ninjetti.

"There were not suitable. To hold a Master Power, you need the strength of True Love to give the strength to resist corruption and temptation, and the motivation to channel yourself selflessly." Ninjor smiled again. "Heroes fight not so much for ideals, but because they love - that was the great secret of the Ninjetti, why they could not be beaten. Because they were taught to fight for their loves, their friends, their family ... for that face that comes to you and sets fire to your heart. That makes a _true_ Spirit Warrior. The Dolphin Ninjetti is too young for that to have touched his life ... and the others have not found it, either. I will send them back."

Skye sighed.

"But you have," Ninjor said in a soft voice.

The breeze flicked around the Temple and Skye met the eyes of the strange Guardian.

"I spoke of the Choice ... and in their Quest they have revealed theirs and they will be awarded appropriately, though there is one more test to go ... and so did you."

Skye looked at Ninjor, afraid to say anything, but feeling deep inside what it meant.

"I must ask you because of what this means if you are willing to do this? If you will stand by that instinct of yourself, that giving of yourself, making of yourself a weapon?" Ninjor asked eagerly.

Skye looked at the faces of his tranced friends. "Yes ... you say it was a choice - but, if you love ... it is not."

Ninjor nodded. "But it has to be done of your own free will ..."

"I was given back my life for this purpose ..." Skye said finally and sighed wistfully before nodding. "Yes ... I choose this."

"Yes!" Ninjor said triumphantly, taking up the Star Crystal. "Come now, we must do this ... they will rest until I wake them ... later ... much later."

Skye nodded and followed Ninjor, deep into the depths of the Temple.

~*~

Rocky groaned, pushing himself up. "Kat?" his words were instinctive and immediate. "Kat, are you alright?' he called. He sat up, looking around where he was, feeling stone beneath his hands. There were the faint sound of other bodies stirring around him and a sense of a glowing light. He glanced around to see a glowing figure approach them, watching them tolerantly. Startled, he drew back. "Er, hi," he said eventually.

"Welcome, Red Ape Ninjetti," the glowing apparition said. "You and your companions have succeeded in your Quest. I wait to bestow the Master Powers of the Ninjetti upon you all ... just as soon as everyone wakes up." He gestured with his hand and light began to emanate from the walls as the others stirred.

Trini pulled Billy up, looking at his bloodstained back in concern. "Will? You with me here?" she whispered in his ear.

Billy nodded, dismissing the injury. Truth be told, his back felt numb. "I wasn't quick enough ..." were his first words. "I couldn't save him ..."

Trini embraced him carefully. "Not your fault ..." but they had little time to grieve their losses.

"Spirit Warriors of the Ninjetti - I, Nin-jor the Guardian, welcome you. You have triumphed where none have before. Stand and receive that for which you have endured such hardship."

The group that stood before the Guardian was scarcely triumphant. Hurt in body and spirit by their ordeal, they looked at Ninjor as if trying to convince themselves it was worth it.

He smiled at them. "Worry not, for all will be well," Ninjor reassured them in a warm voice, and something made Billy alert to a subtle difference.

Something was different here. This felt more real than the Quest somehow. Like his back. He had the oddest sensation there, like in a dream where your mind knows that you are hurt and in terrible pain, but you are not actually feeling it. He frowned and started to mentally review what had happened on their Quest from an objective viewpoint, his doubts growing.

"How can you say everything is going to be all right when we lost so many of us?" Kim challenged fiercely. "The Powers aren't worth lives!"

"Yes, they are." Ninjor replied unperturbed. "Perhaps you do not realise what you will hold when you hold the Master Powers."

There were some disbelieving mutters from around him.

Ninjor held up his hand for silence. "But it is good that you feel this way. For it is those that believe there are more important things than Power that can be trusted with the Master Powers. There is a saying of the Ninjetti: '_The sword of Power has no hilt, yet few would go defenceless'._"

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Adam murmured, quoting an Earth equivalent.

Ninjor looked surprised and pleased as if he had somehow underestimated those standing before him. "Indeed! Exactly, Black Frog. I bow to the wisdom of the Spirit of the Frog." And much to Adam's embarrassment the blue-armoured figure bowed to him with respect. Tanya smiled a little as Adam flushed crimson at being the focus of attention.

Ninjor gestured and a column of light descended into the centre of the room, a stream of strange, fiery, glittering glyphs and images swirling within its heart, dancing in intricate helices of motion.

"The Master Powers. Devised by the first Ninjetti Master, Bar'ak, who survived the First War of the Darkness Visible; and though the Ninjetti faded, he set in place the provisions against its return," Ninjor said reverentially. "Since that time, galactic civilisations have risen and collapsed, new worlds were born and worlds died - and still the Powers have waited for those worthy to come." He looked around at them all solemnly.

"But Justin is DEAD! And the Shri, the Ronani and the others! And Skye." Kim nearly choked on the last.

"No -- they aren't," Billy said into the silence, suddenly sure.

__

Was that you? he asked his Wolf Spirit, wondering where that intuitive insight had come from.

**__**

Actually, no ... you managed that conclusion on your own. The Wolf Spirit sounded proud.

Again Ninjor sounded surprised. "You have sharp eyes in your mind, young Wolf," he stated, not quite admitting this as the truth.

"It is true though, isn't it?" Billy pressed.

Ninjor nodded slowly and there was an audible sigh of relief around the chamber. "They were found not to be suitable to control a Master Power. As such they were removed from the Quest. The Quest was designed to test your instinctive reactions in times of extreme peril, for therein the Powers find their root. Now ... it is time to receive the Master Powers. Know this, all of you: with the Master Powers you will have abilities that you can use any time, but concentrated in the glyph shape that will blend with the Spirit Warrior armour is the ability to concentrate the Master Power into a single powerful weapon to your desire - connected with the ability that you will be gifted. More will become clear as their nature is revealed." He paused, gestured and a glyph streamed out from the column of light and swept over the group before hovering over Rocky.

"Rocky, Chosen of the Red Ape - in the midst of danger, you instinctively strove to maintain communication and information between your fellow Ninjetti. As such the Glyph Ansur is your power, the ability of Communication." As Ninjor finished, the glyph shape dove at Rocky and a silent thunderclap of Power enveloped the Red Spirit Warrior, revealing him once more with a glittering ruby glyph on his chest.

__

Wow...that was something else... Rocky was thinking, and everyone around him looked as they heard the words in their own minds. He smiled and became quiet as Ninjor gestured again; this time his long-time friend Adam was singled out.

"Adam, Chosen of the Black Frog - when danger threatened, your instinct was to see safety through an illusion, one of the powerful aspects of the Frog Spirit." Behind them an image of Adam disguising the gully shimmered in the column of light. "As such the Glyph Shas is your power, the Master Power of Illusion." Once again the Ninjetti was wrapped in a cloak of light and Power as a gleaming jet-black symbol appeared on his armour.

Ninjor nodded and moved swiftly on to the fair-haired Australian.

"Katherine, Chosen of the Pink Cheetah - you sought to assist your fellow Ninjetti using the gift of the Cheetah, Spirit of Speed." The image of Katherine running for her life pursued by the aglaeca brought gasps from them all. "As such the Glyph Maraz is yours, the Power of Hopespeed." A shower of scintillating light burst over her, and a gleaming rose quartz symbol appeared on her armour.

"J'shaar, Chosen of the Red Ferass - when danger threatened, you saved your companions from more danger by finding that which was not visible, as the Ferass senses the desert sands for peril. Your power is that of the Glyph Kayve, the Power of the Seeker." It was the turn of the large Drakin to be illuminated with fiery light and his glyph glittered with a deep garnet fire. He touched it reverentially with a claw as Ninjor moved proceedings onwards.

"Dulcea, Chosen of the Green Owl - in danger you sought the silence of the Owl and its stealth to give you advantage and save others. The Glyph Mrath, Power of Silence, is yours."

The First Warrior of the Ninjetti looked exultant as the immense Power filled her, leaving her with a burning emerald glyph on her green and white armour. She bowed to Ninjor respectfully. Ninjor acknowledged her gesture and turned to face the proud figure of Jason. An image of him surrounded by the fire and fighting the aglaeca appeared in the column of light.

"Jason, Chosen of the Red Lion - you sought an answer to your peril from fire, a lion's fire of courage and the element. The Glyph Kano is yours, and you have the Master Power of Fire."

Jason braced himself as he was swirled in a tornado of fire but left untouched, on his chest the bright flash of a fire opal burning the Glyph's shape for all to see. He nodded to Ninjor as the Guardian of the Master Powers moved to bestow the next of the Glyphs. At his gesture a glyph soared from the column of light to hover over the White Ninjetti of Aquitar.

"Delphine, Chosen of the White Vasherel - when the way to safety was unclear, you sought the clarity of the Air. The Glyph Oless is your power, the Master Power of the Air." As the pale gleam of translucent mist swept around her, Delphine was revealed with the gleam of a pale white moonstone symbol on her graceful form. She gave a rare smile as she felt the depths of the Power within her and bowed, as had the others. Ninjor smiled and the next Glyph he summoned hovered over Trini, illuminating her serene features with golden light.

"Trini, Chosen of the Golden Tiger, to preserve the safety of your companions you used the ability of the Tiger Spirit to shift, seemingly without physically making a movement. The Glyph Radhaz is yours, the Power of Warp." That golden Glyph seemed to light her from within and when the light cleared, her symbol was a golden amber. Ninjor turned then to the other Aquitian.

"Cestro, Chosen of the Blue Celepha, with the wisdom of the Celepha and its instinct for its environment you used the earth itself as your weapon to save your companions. Your Glyph is Erda, the Master Power of Earth."

After the now familiar burst of power revealing a glittering dark sapphire symbol, Zack muttered aside to Aisha, "Now that's ironic. An Aquitian with the power of Earth."

Aisha grinned as the next power was bestowed - this time it was Kim who was treated to the glowing attention of a Master Glyph.

"Kimberly, Chosen of the Pink Crane - you sought to protect and shield as the Crane shields its wards from even the wrath of the Tiger." The astounding image of her using the rock as a shield appear above them and Tommy look awed as he took in her defiant, blazing eyes. "Yours is the Glyph Ehaz, the Master Power of Protection." The light poured into her, forming a shield momentarily, and then a sparkling kunzite pink crystal glyph appeared on her chest and she smiled triumphantly, thanking Ninjor as he moved on to her next friend.

"Tanya, Chosen of the Yellow Oryx. You battled the danger by bringing those with you together to fight, making a strength together that is lacked by the individual." The scene of her encouraging them all to push the aglaeca over the crumbling cliff replayed behind her. "Yours is the Glyph Mannu, the Master Power of Unity." The light was as dazzling as Tanya's exultant smile and she was left with the shimmering yellow of a sunstone as a glyph.

Ninjor turned to the two Chi'iten and addressed them as an individual. "Vy-Ru, Chosen of the Green Vathen, you instinctively used the vathen's ability to pierce through all obstacles. Therefore your Power is of the Glyph Neesha, the Master Power of Progress." The two Chi'iten warbled in harmony as they both absorbed the light and shared a cool green jade symbol between them. Ninjor nodded at their formal bow and moved on to Aisha with a wry smile.

"Aisha, Chosen of the Yellow Bear - you showed in your totally fearless attack of a foe much larger than yourself the instinct of the indestructibility of the berserk. Your Glyph is Thornaz, the Master Power of the Berserk Destroyer." The absorption of the Master Power this time was far from subtle and the floor of the chamber rocked as Aisha emerged with a sparkling citrine symbol.

"Wow," Zack commented after the thunderburst of light sealed Aisha with that Power. "I swear I'll do the washing up now! And anything else you want ... honest!" He mock-cowered away from her, until she slapped his arm lightly.

There were a few irreverent smiles as Ninjor continued, facing the joker of the group.

"Zachary, Chosen of the Black Mongoose, you risked poison to save another as does the Mongoose, and did not succumb." The terrifying images of his courage and bravery and mortal peril flashed up in the column of light once more. "In this your Glyph of Sigewa is identified, the Master Power of Immunity."

"Cool," Zack replied after he had been imbued with the Power, a gleaming onyx Glyph. "Very cool."

Of the group, only Billy and Tommy were left and Ninjor paused, looking into the column of light. Silence fell as everyone followed his gaze and a murmur of astonishment rippled through the crowd.

A single Glyph spun and sparkled there.

Two Ninjetti. One Glyph.

"Oh no ... no, you can't DO this!" Trini protested, shaking her head in denial. "Neither of them deserve to have the Powers taken from them! Not again!"

Billy looked at Tommy and then at the Glyph with a cold growing dread, a hard painful feeling of hurt and rejection building in his heart. He looked into Tommy's dark eyes and saw the mirror of his own feelings in his friend's face, that internal suffering once more.

"Only one of you will control the most powerful weapon of the Ninjetti," Ninjor said implacably, not looking at the two before him.

__

After all I have done...after everything I have given and suffered - and now this? They take this from me? Billy grieved, and his Wolf Spirit grieved with him. What right did he have to take the Master Powers? They needed the strongest leader to wield the most powerful weapon, and that _had_ to be Tommy, not him ... or did it?

"Tommy ..." he began, the words choking in a tightening throat.

"No, Billy ... it has to be yours. After all you have done, you deserve it." The Falcon Ninjetti showed the pain of loss in his own voice, and the pair of them locked gazes. Billy could not let Tommy be hurt again, he _could_ not. But he WANTED the Powers, like before, but the craving was a thousand times stronger, threatening to consume him from within ... and he could see it doing the same to Tommy. Both of them were fighting that pull, that instinct. Billy could not bear those dark eyes of pain; he glanced around, looking at the Glyph, trying to will himself to have the strength to do the right thing. What he saw spoke to his instinct, destroying his hope of taking the Power. The last Glyph was in the fiery shape of an Arrowhead. And he knew ... he _knew_ then it wasn't for him. He would have nothing and he would have to force Tommy to take the final Power ...

"You ask too much!" Trini called out, tears pouring down her face. She had read Billy's decision in the shift in his posture. "You can't make him give up another Power, it will destroy him!"

Ninjor remained silent and implacable.

"Take it," Billy said softly to his friend. The hardest thing he'd ever said.

Tommy shook his head. "Billy, I couldn't do that to you ..." but the longing in his eyes betrayed that sentiment.

"It's yours, Tommy," Billy refuted, his voice strained. "It's calling to you, isn't it? Deep inside." _Like it is to me._

Tommy groaned. He couldn't deny it. It was speaking to his very bones with its presence, as vital and necessary as air to him , but he tried to resist its siren song. "Oh Billy ..."

"If you won't take it," Billy continued, trying not to hear Tommy's protests, as any moment of weakness would ruin his resolve. It wouldn't take much. The tiniest wavering moment, and he would be lost, "I will have to gift it to you. It's yours. You will use it better than I ever would. It's your Power, not mine." He held that gaze that one last time and Tommy sighed, giving in to the call in his blood.

"Oh Billy, I'm so sorry ..." and in a blaze of fire, the Glyph swept out to Tommy, glowing white.

"Thomas, Chosen of the White Falcon, you used the devastating single strike of the Falcon to destroy an enemy far more powerful than yourself. " Ninjor paused, glancing at the silently anguished form of Billy cast in shadows by the light glowing around Tommy. "Your Glyph is Tyraz, the Master Power of the Lightning Strike." The Falcon Ninjetti was wreathed in lightning as the Glyph was merged with his armour.

Billy turned away, unable to muster the strength to congratulate Tommy yet, hating himself for his distinctly un-noble thoughts.

__

I can't smile and say 'well done' when I know I deserve this ... but Tommy ... he is better for them, he is a leader and obviously there is no place for me. I have served my purpose.

He stood alone and apart, a tragic figure trying to hold himself together, having given away something he had always dreamed of.

The rejoicing that should have come at the end of their successful Quest was dampened by that solitary figure standing apart from the newly-anointed Master Ninjetti, and there were none who did not feel the tug of guilty emotion that one who so richly deserved the Powers had been forced to choose to give them to another. Trini reached for Billy's hand ... and only the painfully tight grip betrayed the crippling intensity of his emotions.

"How could they be so cruel," Trini whispered, looking at Ninjor angrily. "Why?! First Skye doesn't even make it and then you -- who has done so much ...!"

Billy couldn't even speak.

Tommy looked at them, helpless with guilt at his success - at the expense of his friend.

"Congratulations," Ninjor addressed them.

"Yeah? Well, save it," Tommy replied bitterly, his voice tight with remorse.

Ninjor looked at the Falcon Ninjetti. "I was not congratulating you," he said with a smile. "I am sorry, Thomas of Earth, but you will not wield the most powerful weapon of the Ninjetti. _That_ honour will go to William of Earth, Chosen of the Blue Wolf."

He gestured again and this time there were no glowing lights, no fire or glory. Nothing save a movement in the dark shadows and the sudden glitter of light on crystal.

"William, Chosen of the Blue Wolf - you showed the self-sacrifice, intelligence and courage of the Wolf. To you is entrusted the Ninjetti's most powerful weapon - refered to in the Prophecies as the Shahin Tara Zed."

He beckoned with his hand and a figure stepped out of the darkness, a very familiar figure with long white hair and steel blue eyes ... and one major difference. The Star Crystal that had hung around his neck was now firmly embedded in the centre of his forehead, and there were shadows of pain in his eyes, though he greeted them with a smile.

It all made sense. Why Skye had never thought he would be a Ranger, or a proper Ninjetti ... because he was always going to be ... a Weapon. Billy's eyes widened. A Weapon he was going to be controlling.

"Your task, Chosen of the Wolf, begins here. Know this -- the reason you were tested so harshly was because of the potential that lies within the Shahin Tara Zed. This one has no form through which the Power can be channelled. That is your first task. Choose his Animal Spirit and define the shape and form of his Power."

Billy hesitated, staring at his altered friend who was looking at him with total trust.

__

What if I choose wrong? What if ... What if I doom us all...I don't want this!

Images of Skye sacrificing himself on the stone bridge leapt to mind, and if that was his instinct, then he would damn well choose an Animal Spirit that could come back! And then ... from a distant memory ... a cave on Aquitar ... a flash of recall, the Glyphs and the shapes! The cave where above pulsed a Bird of Starwhite fire.....surety descended.

"Phoenix ... he is the Phoenix!"

Ninjor laughed. Laughed with relief and happiness. "Oh, young Wolf ... I should have known the Powers knew what they were doing." He stepped away from Skye and from Billy, and a burning white light began deep in the heart of the Star Crystal, as if it had become translucent in a window to the artist's very soul. Unbearably bright, it seemed to swallow everything as a pair of starfire wings, fashioned of ghostflames, embraced the pair of them and Billy touched the edges of a Power that literally knew no limit.

As Billy reeled from the shock, a Glyph of a stylised Phoenix appeared as a brilliant blue diamond on his chest and a connection of trust unlike anything before was forged in unbreakable bonds between him and his friend.

He was gasping when the air cleared, reeling with shock; he looked at Skye and saw a measure of contentment there amongst the transformation of himself.

The Star-Phoenix Ninjetti stood clad in true Ninjetti robes like all the others, the light shining brightly from his forehead.

Ninjor stepped forward. "You must try not to use even the slightest power of the Phoenix unless absolutely necessary," he admonished. "It can be sensed by the Nid-hi and is most keenly looked for by the Darkness Visible. You, William of Earth, are the Will of the Phoenix. This is a great and terrible thing, and the reason why you were tested so harshly. You have immeasurable Power in your hands, and only one who was willing to give up that Power, though it called to him, could be entrusted to use it correctly."

Billy nodded and looked at Skye again, worried at the way he was not being described as a person.

"It is well done. The ancient Ninjetti would be proud," Ninjor concluded, bowing to them all. "The Animal spirits have chosen well - and now it is time to protect all we hold dear."

NOW they felt they could celebrate; an excited cheer went up and all the new holders of the first and only Master Powers embraced and congratulated each other. As they stepped outside, it was dark and the wilderness of Phaedos was lit by the alien light of her moons in unfettered natural beauty.

Rocky remembered how not so long ago he had lain in this circle as Skye had healed his back and how he had leapt around for the sheer joy of being able to move freely and without pain. He frowned and looked at Skye. He wasn't limping! He KNEW there was something different about him, aside from the obvious crystal in the head thing. He grinned ruefully to himself and suddenly _knew_ that there was something that had to happen, right here and now.

__

Skye... do it, Rocky said, using his Power effortlessly. The Phoenix Ninjetti turned to look at him with a quizzical look.

__

Just for once do something for yourself ... you have a Spirit Animal now. Use it! He smiled gently. _You had a lot taken away, and something's given back. Do it._

A blaze of comprehension flooded across Skye's face, and he smiled. _Rocky ... you are a genius!_ and he ran, yes _ran_ to the edge of the Temple and stood on the wall, looking into the night.

"Skye?" Billy called out. "Something wrong?"

Rocky smiled and walked over, joining him. "For once, something is _right_ ... watch."

There was a flicker of ghostly light and Skye appeared to be enveloped in a translucent misty flame which rose into the darkness.

A flash of light, starbright, and a large, achingly beautiful bird of flame shot up into the night, its cry so full of hope it dried the mouth with an upsurge of emotion. Like a shooting star, it arced over the plateau, dancing in the freedom of the skies in direct contrast to how the partially-crippled Ninjetti had been able to move for years on the ground.

The entire group stood, their eyes fixed on the soaring firebird streaming glory from its wings, and as one felt a determination and unity of purpose settle over them. Kim's dark eyes reflected the speck of fire as she followed its dance that echoed so much her own routine from the Pan-Globals. Her body sang with the utter joy that Skye was experiencing, threaded through with a strange bittersweet sensation as the flight ended.

The light faded and ash-grey in the shadows he reappeared, back on the edge of the Temple, the moonlight silvering his white hair. The glimmer of the Star Crystal in his forehead was not nearly as bright as the wonder in his eyes as he ran back to Billy and Trini and hugged them both in a silent embrace. For once he had been able to experience that which he had always watched others do; it had far exceeded his expectations, and inspired awe and wonder in the others. Billy and Trini did not waste words on trying to describe what they had sensed or what he must have felt, they could feel it emanating from him, touching everyone with that unfathomable hope that maybe, despite the odds against them, they could actually _do_ something against the Darkness Visible.

***

* * *

In the approaching space armada of an entire race that protectively cocooned its own god with unparalled might, the first stirrings of interest began at the birth of the Phoenix on that distant world.

Ilana the Silver Nid-hi entered the presence of the One and, barely managing to control her awe even after all this time, knelt in obeisance. "Preserver of Order, Protector of all that is Good ... the sensitives of your devoted worshippers have felt the awakening of a vile force against you."

"I know of this." The voice should have been powerful, reverberating with a dangerous quality, but it was not. It was gentle, rich with depth and compassion and from the heart of the darkness a familiar shape coalesced. Ilana's breath hitched. The One did not always manifest, but when he did he was of such beautiful purity that her heart was totally lost. The Nid-hi shape that appeared was a glorious gold, with liquid warm eyes in which she could swim forever. Her adoration of the One was both personal and spiritual; she would not hesitate to die for him the same as she would for a soulmate.

The Zha'kha-rhee'aa laughed. "It makes the effort worthwhile. Nothing worthwhile is easy."

"Order wrought from Chaos is the purest form of Purpose." quoted Ilana boldly.

"Indeed, my silver one," praised the One. "The greater the chaotic force, the more magnificent is Order's triumph. They have awoken the legendary Shahin Tara Zed. "

"I am sorry, my Master." The Silver Nid-hi bowed her head. "The mission to Phaedos failed to uncover and destroy this weapon and you would be spared this opposition."

The golden-furred hand touched her gently. "This is our strength, my young one ... to see every Path and always plan an answer to any question. Order sees the solutions to any problem. That is why we inevitably win."

Ilana bowed, not doubting that for a moment. She had been taught from birth that Order could not fail and it was part of her understanding of the Universe that this was so.

"Where was the presence sensed again?" The Golden Nid-hi form of the Darkness Visible asked curiously, sitting once again though it obviously knew the answer.

"Phaedos, Protector of Order," Ilana replied humbly. "It would seem that is the stronghold once more."

The Golden dragonface frowned. "It makes no sense. It would not be there ... not knowing I would return."

"These are creatures of Chaos, Lord." The Nidhi suggested a little hesitantly as if this would explain the bizarre behaviour.

"And all the more dangerous for the fact they can use the tools of Order against us. The Council of the Wise hides something from us - and one of them will know where what I seek is hidden." The Zha'Kha-ree'aa smiled. "You did well in your attempt to force the Blue Wolf Spirit to speak. These so-called 'Wise Council' have not even the trust in their Chosen Ones to reveal this Power that they protect." He sounded scornful. "One should follow Order, not blindly but because it is right - which places great responsibility on those higher in the scheme of things to behave correctly. The Guardians of Chaos will not speak, so they must be beguiled." The golden warmth of the liquid eyes blazed fiercely. "And they will ... they will. Have them brought unto the phased Satellite Fortress that was once the traitorous Astronema's. There will we find our answer and from there our Destiny of Light."

Bowing deeply, Ilana left the glorious presence of the Nid-hi deity and hurried to accomplish this fact, spurred on by renewed zeal. She had experienced an inner uncertainty after meeting the Blue Wolf Ninjetti. For a vile Creature of Chaos he seemed ... a gentle, bright soul. But that was blasphemy; and seeing the One again had melted away doubts with the strength of his presence. The Council of the Wise would be brought and questioned by the Zha'kha-rhee'aa himself, and the information would be theirs at last!

~*~

Back at the Power Chamber again, the group of Master Ninjetti sat around the conference table, wrangling backwards and forward about what to do now they had what they required, or at least the firepower to do something about it. This galaxy-affecting meeting took place amid home-cooked offerings from all the parents and resembled a food fight as much as a council of war. Even so the content of their discussion was deadly serious.

"Yes, but what can these abilities actually DO?" Aisha asked again, bringing them back to the crucial point. "I feel like someone has handed me a nuclear warhead without instruction, said 'use it wisely' and left me to it."

"Yeah ... I can feel the power there ... but that's not a lot of good if we don't know what to do with it," Zack pointed out. "Give someone a loaded gun, don't tell them how to use it and they'll shoot themselves in the foot!"

The others nodded as Dulcea spoke up. "It is the Council of the Wise that has this information. In fact we have all been entrusted with secrets."

"A lot of good they are worth when the Council of the Wise is captured," Tanya pointed out a little bluntly. "Which points to one conclusion, doesn't it?"

"We have to get them back," Jason said finally.

That produced immediate agreement, but Billy held up a hand. "I agree, but ... there is a lot going on. We have refugees pouring towards Phaedos and being shipped here, we have running skirmishes taking place by the Chi'iten armada as they advance, the Ninjetti are gathering to stand at Phaedos and our other allies who are not Ninjetti are pulling together in a fleet at Triforia." He smiled. "What I'm trying to say is that we need experienced co-ordinators HERE. We can't all rescue them, it would have to be a small mission. If worse comes to the worst, we'll have to win this war making it up as we go along."

"Well, that would be a change," Tommy commented. He looked a little disconcerted. "This is the first time we are without mentors, as it were." That was enough to make them all a little unsettled.

"We need to have some answers," Trini mused aloud.

"Something isn't right. We are missing part of the puzzle," Billy murmured in a barely audible voice. "Information wins wars, and they have targeted our main source of information. We lose any advantage right there. They have a hidden purpose and the Darkness Visible had some reason for taking them. That much is obvious."

"So what do we do ...?" Zack asked once again. They were going round and round in circles. It was so frustrating!

Billy waited for someone else to speak, but it seemed that people were not going to step into the breach. "First off ... we have to locate the Council of the Wise. Phantom ... Kerrin knew where they _were_, but whether they are _still_ there is another matter."

The Phaedosian looked around. "I doubt it. Even with them thinking that I was neutralised, they would have moved them." He glowered a little. "And the fact remains that SOMEONE betrayed me. It is time to bring this to everyone's attention. They knew how to capture me, they knew my weaknesses. Are we really in a position to rescue a group that I can be sure contains at least one traitor? And if one of the Council of the Wise is a traitor, then are not the chances high they have subverted at least some of the Chosen? Hmmmm?" His green eyes flashed, daring anyone to refute his statement.

"We do not leave _anyone_ behind," Jason stated forcefully, that still being a very sensitive subject for him.

"I beg your pardon, but you are naive." Kerrin looked down on the Red Lion Ninjetti with his millennia of experience, his tone cold. "This is WAR, maybe you do not comprehend this fact. Not even a minor planetary war that could lay waste to just one planet, but one where planets are being laid waste galaxy-wide. Have you looked at the latest reports? One hundred and twelve planets of our Alliance have already fallen whilst you were questing, and now you suggest bringing a traitor into our midst?"

"Kerrin," Dulcea warned, seeing the others' shocked reactions.

"No, Dulcea, they are political infants ... stay and coddle them and burp them if you wish, but this plan is foolhardy and dangerous," Kerrin replied harshly and critically. "You have lost perspective."

"I think that is more YOUR problem," Jason defended Dulcea automatically.

"Have you ever fought a galactic war?" Kerrin shot back. "No ... you have defended your home, and for that I respect your honour." The words were only cold formality, though. "But you know nothing about battling on _this_ scale. The entirety of the United Alliance of Evil has fallen in with this fleet, and you are worrying about a group of individuals!"

Jason pushed up to his feet, starting to get angry. "If you lose sight of the value of individuals, then what the hell are we fighting this war for ANYWAY?"

Billy sat, astonished at how this had flared up. Nerves were on edge more than he realised. He was distracted by a stifled groan next to him and glanced over to see Skye with his hands clamped to his head, over the Star Crystal, his face an expression of pain. Of course, there was literally no barrier between him and receiving emotions with the crystal directly linked to his brain. That gave him the impetus to take control.

"That is enough." He spoke in a controlled voice that cut across the argument. The fact that it was Billy saying this startled everyone so much that they stopped and turned. "Firstly, you are causing pain to Skye which is unacceptable, and secondly your arguments are not diametrically opposed ..." he looked at some of the blank expressions. "You are both right," he amended.

He glanced around at them all, "We have not fought a war on this scale and we will have to listen to those who have." He inclined his head to Phantom. "But neither are we completely untested. Our race may be young, but we have lived in our experiences. We _will_ rescue the mentors ... and our desire to see them safe will provide us with the motivation, but the reality of the situation is that they are crucial to our strategy. The Zha'Kha-rhee'aa is searching for something ... an object. The Nid-hi went to a great deal of trouble to abduct the mentors, and logically, as they have not tried any other tactics such as intimidation or ransom, it is because they want to deprive us of information and gain for themselves. This was their first move, and the first move in any battle is the most important. We would be foolish to ignore its implications. " Billy swallowed before he said the next bit.

"We need the mentors back - or we have to ensure they cannot be utilised by the enemy against us."

And that statement filled the room with a chilling silence.

Kerrin sat back down, the look in his eyes reassessing the Ninjetti Master Spirit Warriors around him, who seemed shocked, but each nodding a slow agreement. He was surprised; he had genuinely not thought them ... mature enough to make such hard decisions.

Billy looked around again. "We will also need to decide other important issues ... when we return," he said. "But we need to harry and skirmish and pick at their forces as they approach Phaedos. Only the Ninjetti can tackle the Nid-hi forces, but as Phantom has pointed out, there are more to our opposition than just them. Our non-Ninjetti Allies are massing in an intercept fleet and need someone to act as a liaison and commander." He glanced at Kerrin. "And I would suggest the person ideal for that task is Phantom, as he has had contact with many of the people involved already. They will trust him ... but first, we need him to help us seek the mentors."

The former Black Lion Ninjetti looked stunned at Billy's revelation, and nodded. "I will ask my contacts for news immediately," he agreed, got up and left the room swiftly.

"That was well done," Tanya whispered to Billy from across the table.

"We need him," Billy murmured. "We need everyone."

~*~

After the impromptu meeting broke for a recess whilst Phantom accessed his data, Billy excused himself to go and think about what had just happened. Where -- _when_ -- had he become the one to step in? In his distraction, he managed to trip over the legs of someone trying very hard to mope in an out-of-the-way corner.

"Ooops ..." Justin scrambled up. "Sorry." He refused to meet the Wolf Ninjetti's gaze and made to bolt out of there. He had shot up in size again, but was still not even the age they had been when they took the Powers to start with. That thought suddenly worried Billy a great deal. Justin was kid ... and yet, he would be battling on the front line. What were the odds on his survival? _Calculate that on to the last decimal place, Billy boy,_ he thought to himself.

"Hey, no problem," Billy replied. "What are you doing here?" he asked concernedly.

"Nothing," the teenager shot back a little bitterly. "Absolutely ... nothing."

And Billy sighed as he realised _that_ was the problem. "You're upset about not getting a Master Power?" he queried.

"I wasn't good enough for one, was I?" Justin returned a little regretfully, pushing his hair back.

"It wasn't that," the older Blue Ranger replied. "There were certain preconditions that were required - one of them being that you had to have a True Love to be able to stand the force of the Master Power. Justin, very few people have found True Love at your age."

"Well yeah," Justin sighed. "But no-one wants me to do _anything_ -- afraid I might get hurt or not be able to take care of myself."

Billy gave a quiet wry smile. "Oh man, that sounds familiar."

"_You_ had this?" Justin asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah ... as if having brains somehow makes you incapable of dealing with the real world."

That raised a chuckle from the depressed Dolphin Ninjetti.

"You have no idea how protective Jason and Tommy ... oh hang on, you probably do, don't you?" Billy smiled. "Look Justin, it's not like we CAN leave anyone out. There are too few of us, and if you get posted here for example," he gestured to their rebuilt Power Chamber, "It will be because you are the best person for the job, not for any ulterior motive."

Justin nodded, looking slightly less crestfallen but still unconvinced and it was at this point that Billy remembered a task he really needed done, but did not want anyone to know about ... just in case there _was_ a traitor in their ranks. Justin he was pretty sure of and he had the requisite knowledge to deal with it effectively.

"Actually, Justin, there _is_ something that needs doing, and fast ... and without anyone else knowing, if possible," Billy said quietly, looking around.

That sparked some interest. "What is it? I'll do it!"

"You ought to find out what it is first," Billy smiled. "I've arranged with the Triforians for a shipment of refined FerianX."

"FerianX?" Justin's eyes widened as Billy shushed him.

"I see you know what it is. Trey was bringing it in Pyramidas, but has ended up bolstering the Allies' fleet." Billy looked at him seriously. "I need someone to go and get it ... someone who understands how dangerous it is and how to keep it safe in transit."

"I should say... that stuff is dangerous under virtually every environmental condition. How much? A kilo?"Justin asked warily.

"A ton," Billy stated flatly.

"A TON? The explosive power of that ... I ... what are you going to do with a TON of FerianX?" Justin exclaimed.

"Can't tell you ... and I don't want anyone else knowing it's coming. There's a special depot on the Moonbase to receive it, but ..." Billy looked at the Dolphin Ninjetti questioningly.

"S'okay, I'll get it." The younger genius was deep in thought. "I'll see to it, Billy - right away!"

"Thanks ... it is vitally important, that much I can tell you," Billy said truthfully. "Not a word to _anyone_, Justin."

"Got it!" and with a bright smile and an irrepressible glitter in his eyes, the Dolphin Ninjetti practically ran off with his new mission bright in his mind.

__

I made it seem like I was doing him a favour, Billy thought. _I somehow got him wanting to do an inherently dangerous task, that was totally unfair of me._

****

Nonsense, young wolf. His Wolf Spirit spoke up. **_This is why a Spirit Warrior had to accept the responsibility and choose to take the Power. The Chosen of the Dolphin is no different; for all his youth he is of the Blue and as you know, the Blue makes you mature before the normal times of development._**

It's just hard to accept. Justin's main worries should be going to class, homework and the eternal mystery of girls... not whether he will live or die and the fate of millions in his hands.

****

Billions, the Wolf Spirit corrected helpfully.

__

Thanks, Billy responded wryly. _Forgive me for finding the thought of the safety of billions in the hands of a teenager who gets hyper on sugar more than a little scary._

****

Is it him you are worried about, the Wolf Spirit questioned astutely, **_... or yourself?_**

Billy stopped. Good point.

__

Okay, I admit it. I am not used to making these sorts of decisions.

****

Since when? the Wolf Spirit challenged. **_You have been making the decisions to save lives for most of your life, my cub._** The Blue Wolf sounded proud and affectionate. **_This is a bigger scale, but no different from when you would tell the others of your Pack what action was required to save them and others._**

I hadn't thought of that, Billy mused, feeling a little happier. _You sure you couldn't have found someone better suited to do it?_

****

We all have to work with the materials we are given, the Wolf Spirit said drolly, and there was the impression of an affectionate lick that caused Billy to smile despite his internal uncertainties.

"I know," he said aloud, smiling. "Do we get refunds after this is all over ... or are Animal Spirits non-returnable?"

And by this time Billy was chuckling to himself as wolfish laughter filled his mind

~*~

Reconvened, and the meeting was betraying a sense of urgency. Kerrin strode in once more, the ruby of the Phantom Ranger glittering ominously on his chest like fresh blood. "Not good news," the Phantom Ranger announced in a sombre voice. "My sources reveal they have been taken to the old fortress of Astronema, to be questioned by the Darkness Visible itself."

"Then we have very little time, we must get to this place immediately," Dulcea decided at once.

"Only," Kerrin amended, brushing back his long dark hair in an anxious gesture, "no-one knows where it is."

Tommy frowned. "How so?"

"It's phased. That was always the reason we could never make a tactical strike at Astronema." Phantom was referring to the forces of the Council of the Wise and their Alliance.

Billy winced. "Subspace phased ... that's a tricky one."

"The only way we ever got on was by patiently tracking down her forces and hijacking them back through the local phased entry point." Phantom responded to the Blue Wolf Ninjetti.

"This is going to make my head ache, isn't it? " Rocky groaned.

"It's like a creature burying under the sand," J'shaar tried to explain. "Whilst you dig where you last saw it, it could have burrowed anywhere."

"Now THAT I understand." Rocky turned to the others. "Why can't _you_ explain things like that? Takes someone from another planet to put things in plain English."

They snorted a little at that, and the mood lightened.

"We don't have time to track down some convenient ... quantrons?" Jason said, frowning. "The fleet is closing on Phaedos, barely forty-eight hours away. "

"I don't know what else to suggest," Kerrin replied, somewhat disheartened.

Kat frowned, too, shaking her head in disbelief. "Surely there is _something_ we can do ... you mean to say with all these new Powers we can't even find our goal?"

Trini nodded. "I agree." She seemed lost in thought and then narrowed her eyes. "J'shaar ... wasn't your Master Power to do with sensing hidden things?"

"This is correct," the Drakin Ninjetti confirmed. "I have found myself able to sense things close to me that are hidden, if I try."

"What if you invoked the full Power of your Master Glyph with the thought of locating the Council of the Wise in mind?" Cestro suggested. "Would it manage to locate them even in phased space?"

"I could try. I must admit, I was not sure of what use my Master Power would be," the Saurian Ranger confessed. "But now I see that there are many ways we have to fight. Is it the will of the Ninjetti that I try this?"

"If it's our only shot," Tommy said, "then yeah ... all those in favour?"

"Aye!"

"That settles it. J'shaar, it's over to you." Tommy nodded at him.

"Very well." The Drakin Ranger stood and closed his eyes, as if seeking guidance from within as to what he should do. His scaled fingers rose to touch the garnet glyph shape and he said in a thunderous voice, "Master Power Kayve!" The Glyph flared with lurid red colour and poured into his body.

And then there was silence.

"Well?" Zack asked, leaning forward, trying to see something different about the Master Ninjetti.

J'shaar opened his eyes and his eyescales glowed brightly. "I know exactly where they are ... I feel them ... I see them even as they move ... this will not fade."

There was an excited babble of optimism at this development.

"Right." Billy thought rapidly of the Powers that might assist. "Dulcea ... you have a stealth capability, I believe, as part of your Power; we'll take your Zord." He grimaced. He couldn't leave Jase behind. "Jason ... you, myself, Skye, Trini, J'shaar and ... Vy-Ru." His mind wondered if they could slice through space itself. If not, well, they were fearsome warriors. Billy sighed. "And Kerrin ... he has been in that place before, and we don't have enough time to get Karone or any of the Astro Rangers here to be a guide."

"You think you are taking enough?" Tommy asked, not really questioning who was going. He was tasked with drilling and training the Spirit Warrior force, which was not a small task, but old habits died hard. At least Jason would be there.

"We can't afford to take anyone else, really. Too much to do here," Billy explained. "We'll be teleporting to Phaedos in about a quarter of an hour and go stealth from that point in OwlZord ... and hopefully be back with the mentors before the forces reach Phaedos." He left unspoken the potential obstacles and dangers in their path, and their likelihood of success.

"Good luck, guys," Kim said, looking at them all. "Don't do anything too heroic," she admonished.

"I'll certainly try, Kim." Billy grinned and then in a flurry of activity, the meeting dispersed.

~*~

Talk about awkward.

Billy didn't have to have Skye's empathic abilities to realise the atmosphere between Jason, Dulcea and Kerrin was strained. Realistically, how could it not be? New love versus old love ... VERY old love. Dulcea and Kerrin as first loves, Jason as the interloper fighting against all that history. He sighed. They _didn't_ need this sort of stress between them, not when they were going into battle. Kerrin still seemed very hostile towards Jason, his jealousy possibly aggravated by the way the two of them had faced off in the meeting. Skye had been sitting close to them on the journey and had surreptitiously moved as far away as he could, his face looking a little pinched despite the enforced civility. The teleport to Phaedos and their flurried preparations made this seem bizarre and unreal.

Dulcea had invoked her Master Power of Silence, making OwlZord a permanent complete stealth craft, totally undetectable and even invisible to the eye if she willed it. Billy was starting to comprehend a little of the scope of the Master Powers and became a little awed at what else he and his friends might have in their hands. Dulcea came back from the controls of Owlzord and surveyed the tension-filled scene.

"Billy? Could you and the others check the facilities in the weapons bay?" Dulcea requested, looking directly at Kerrin, capturing his gaze and holding it.

"Er ... yeah, sure," Billy replied uncomfortably. "Come on, guys." He and Trini dragged Jason from the cramped area into the depths of the flying Ninjetti Zord.

Dulcea sat down and studied Kerrin intensely until the other Ranger practically squirmed under that assessing gaze. "What?!" he snapped suddenly.

"Even after however many millennia you STILL haven't changed, have you?" Dulcea sighed. "You still think of me as your own personal possession, even after you thought I was dead?"

"No ... of course not," Kerrin protested vehemently.

"Then what is all this hostility towards Jason?" Dulcea challenged.

"Who said I was hostile towards him?" Kerrin retorted defensively.

"I have eyes ... remember the attributes of the Owl? The Watcher?" Dulcea sighed again. "And look at you ... tying yourself up in knots about it."

Kerrin looked away. "You place too much trust in him ... in these humans. They are young, and untried ... and ..." He struggled for words to express his doubts.

"Brak Shalar!" Dulcea swore, exasperated. "They are Ninjetti! They are Master Ninjetti ... they have been tried _by definition_! Your reasons for distrusting them are based solely on your jealousy. Do you think I have been unfaithful to you? Is that what it is?"

"Phaedosians marry for eternity!" Kerrin shot back, stung by her words.

"And we never actually married, did we?" Dulcea replied, suddenly realising how close she had come to making a terrible mistake - though she had loved Kerrin, and did still love him in a different way.

"No, we both 'died' before that could happen," Kerrin said bitterly. "I never stopped grieving you ..."

"Nor I you ... and I do love you ... but not in the same way I love Jason," Dulcea admitted softly.

"Is that meant to make me feel better?" Kerrin snapped, wounded by her words. "A lifetime of love spent on you, and you trade it in for someone you've known for a blink of an eye? Didn't I mean _anything_ to you?"

"Kerrin, that's not fair. Jason is a good, kind person. He doesn't deserve your animosity," Dulcea objected, evading at least part of the question.

"And what if he were the traitor, hmm?" Kerrin pointed out

"He isn't," came the immediate interruption.

"Oh really? How can you be so sure? First of Zordon's Chosen ... what if he _is_ the one?"

"Now you are just being ridiculous!" Dulcea raised her voice.

"Am I? It didn't take him long to get next to you, did it?" Kerrin made an expression of disgust. "All that time you spent alone at the Temple, just desperate for contact with another human ..."

Dulcea's green eyes glittered. "Now you are just being insulting," she said coldly. "He saved my life and even then I had to be forced to realise I was allowed to love again."

The stream of hurt and loss that both of them had held inside of them, believing each other dead, erupted into a shouting match of disastrous proportions so that when the others finally returned, the pair of original Ninjetti were coldly silent, busying themselves about their tasks.

Skye groaned. "Been here before," he muttered to Jason.

"What?" The Red Lion Ninjetti was looking at Dulcea's expression with concern.

"Billy and Trini," the Phoenix Ninjetti said with a sigh. "Only two people who care about each other can wound to that extent." He rubbed the cold of the crystal in his head painfully.

And that filled Jason with more doubts; Kerrin was trying to win her back, he was sure of it. He'd decided to stay clear, but if he was upsetting Dulcea ... dammit, what could he do? It was not in his nature to stand idly by, but neither did he relish the thought of attacking an ally.

His Lion Spirit rumbled an inaudible sound of discontent and turmoil.

~*~

The Darkness Visible would have paced - if it had lowered itself to corporeal form. The questioning of the Council of the Wise was not going well. They were proving resistant to torture, which was to be expected, but he had managed to break them one by one and extract from them their part of the secret by use of guile. Slower than he would have liked, but the results were there. Ironically the fact that he did not have the last of them there aided the process. As they thought there was no way the puzzle could be completed, they were not as ... inflexible as possible they could be to his demands. There was a pattern and a design in all things. Even so he had one last piece of information to extract ... from Zordon. Putting a transdimensional being to the question was ... somewhat difficult. A body that did not exist in the same reality could scarcely be affected. But the mind ... well ...

__

Nothing but a dream, Wyvern Ninjetti, the One pulsed with pleasure. _Is there anything more powerful than the dreams we have?_

And unseen he slipped to join with Zordon's mind, a dark parasite of long-lost dreams.

Zordon of Eltar walked in a memory through the shining streets of Valensia. The sounds and smells of his past were bright in his senses. The hot spicy scent of fresh baked jarrow-cakes made his mouth water as he paused, wondering whether to buy a couple. He opted for the exotic blooms instead from the stall next to the baker's, and was waived payment as the vendor saw his Tower insignia and Ninjetti emblem. He smiled. The day was glorious ... the sky had a beautiful tinge of purple and blue, and there were cloud castles building to the heavens, gilded by the sun. She would understand. Maybe she would even join him.

He reached their hill ... their tree and she was standing there, hair long and black to her waist, shimmering in the early morning light with that peculiar quality that made it seem alive. She was so beautiful in the mornings!

His observing mind shrank back, not wanting to see this history...

"Jenna!" his voice rang out and she turned towards him, her beauty marred by an expression of anxiety.

"Zordon!" She stepped forward. "Is it true what they are saying? That you are disgraced and will be exiled?" There was a hint of tears trembling in her dark eyes.

Zordon paused. "Well ... strictly speaking ... yes," he admitted.

Jenna looked horrified. "Then you ... you _did_ destroy the Matrix crystal? Everyone at the Tower is talking about it ... and that the Master has taken to his bed, made ill by your actions ..."

"Master Trendon is ill, yes, but that is why this has happened." Zordon could feel this conversation slipping out of his control. "Jenna, love ..."

"Don't call me that if you hurt the Master ... he loves you like a son, and this is how you repay him?" Jenna turned away, more upset than he could have imagined. "I thought I knew you, Zordon. I guess my heart was mistaken."

"Jenna, just listen ... it's not what you think," the young man begged desperately. "Really, just listen!"

The dark-haired Bellan-bird Ninjetti paused and turned, giving him that chance ... which was drowned by the attack sirens screaming a warning across the planet's surface.

Zordon's observing mind recoiled. _No ... not again ... not again ..._

"No!" Zordon looked at the attacking force filling the bright Eltarean summer sky. "Run, Jenna ... to the Tower, we must fight!"

But they were too late ... the strafing fire exploded too close, they both flew through the air together and dazed, Zordon crawled to look at Jenna ...

__

No ... she's dead ... always dead. Cold and pale, the life ripped out of her between one moment and the next. She died blaming me, thinking me a disgrace.

Her still form lay there as he cradled her, weeping, and then ... something changed. A weak cough. "Zordon ...?"

"Jenna? You're alive! Oh Jenna ..." He held her close, stunned by the miracle.

There was a faint cough. "I'm ... dying ..." her voice fell.

"No ... no, you aren't, we'll be fine ... we'll be together ..."

Her dark eyes glittered and she attempted a smile, a trickle of dark blood escaping her mouth. "Can't ... exile ..." The effort seemed to drain the life from her, growing weaker by the moment.

"No ... no ... it's not really ... it's a secret, love ..." his dreamself said. "Master Trendon is ill and he's putting me there to guard something very important."

The dying woman looked confused. "Important?"

And Zordon's observing self clamoured a warning, unheeded by a subconscious mind desperate for absolution.

"Too important to know about ... just that it is there somewhere ... tucked in the backwaters of the galaxy ... it is an honour, not a disgrace," Zordon babbled, tears streaming down his face. "Please understand, please!"

A blinding smile filled her expression and she touched his cheek with trembling fingers.

"Understand ... I love you, Zordon ..." and she quivered as the glowing form of her Bellan-bird Animal Spirit became visible to his eyes and came to take her home.

And Zordon, injured and alone, wept as his True Love's life passed away in his arms.

Wrong, no, that was wrong.. She never spoke again, she was dead when I found her, I never got to tell her that it was a charade, the punishment actually being a sacred trust. She never forgave me ... in all my dreams she never forgave me, never understood and I lived with that all the time I went on ... and never once even in my dreams have I spoken the secret!

The observing mind of Zordon was shocked fully conscious.

"No!" he protested in horror.

There was gentle laughter in their prison and a shimmering collection of energy coalesced into the dreamform of Jenna before his transdimensional tube.

"I love you, Zordon," the sweet voice mocked. "I'm not sure if I need the last piece of the puzzle after all ... No exile for the star pupil Zordon; no ... a guardianship of the greatest secret instead!"

"You still don't know where it is," he said weakly.

"I know where it isn't. Not on Phaedos." The Darkness Visible laughed. "And once I have disassembled your pathetic allies, Zordon of Eltar, if necessary I shall take the place apart piece by piece until I find it." The Jenna facsimile smiled sweetly. "I have time ... and patience. Thank you, Zordon of Eltar. You've made my dreams come true." And with an echoing laugh she spun away into black mist, leaving Zordon stunned and horrified at how he had been betrayed by his internal longings for forgiveness.

~*~

"You're sure they are here?" Jason asked skeptically, looking out at the stars and space.

"Yes," J'shaar replied with absolute certainty. "I can feel them there."

"I'll take your word for it. Um ... now what?" the Lion Ninjetti inquired, looking around.

Billy grinned. "Well, I am hoping that Vy-Ru can use their ability to cut through space itself."

Trini blinked. "Now there's an idea. You think you can do that?" she addressed the Chi'iten.

"We will endeavour to do so," the unified pair said in response. They adopted a similar stance to that which J'shaar had used and invoked their Power. "Master Power Neesha!"

The jade glyphs pulsed cool green energy and dissolved into the pair's bodies, joining with their thought to create an ability to slice through space so no-one might impede their progress. The pair instinctively unsheathed their forearm blades and in a sharp movement sliced downwards, causing a pulse of green to be flung forth and pierce space itself.

"That is ... incredible," Billy said in awe as the swirling colours of subspace appeared ahead of the cloaked Zord.

"Speed is essential," the insectoid Ninjetti said in a strained buzz. "The pressure is great."

Dulcea steered the disguised Zord though the gap and into the swirling chaos of phased space, and as predicted the fortress was there ahead of them.

"Good call, J'shaar," Dulcea complimented, nodding and steered towards an opening.

"You sure they can't see us?" Billy asked a little nervously. He looked across at Trini and Skye for support and saw the white-haired Ninjetti looking pale and shaky.

"Skye," he said, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"It's there ..." The white-haired artist was trembling a little.

"It?" Trini questioned, feeling a hint of dread.

"The One, the Darkness Visible." Skye actually shuddered. "I can feel its presence there."

Kerrin stood, his eyes flashing dangerously. "This is an unparalleled opportunity!" he announced.

"Our purpose is to rescue the mentors," J'shaar reminded him.

Surprisingly, Jason stood up also. "I'm with Kerrin on this one," he said to the others. "A chance to strike at the head of our Enemy without ploughing through a space armada of destroyers to get to it? We can't pass up that opportunity."

Billy grimaced. "Look, we go for our primary objective and _then_ see if we can take a shot at the Darkness Visible. Skye ... you'd best keep yourself under wraps unless absolutely necessary." _If he can sense It ... then more than likely It can sense him._

"Got it." The Phoenix Ninjetti seemed MORE than willing to oblige.

Owlzord docked invisibly and cautiously they all disembarked, senses on battle alert.

"This way," J'shaar whispered and silently shot forward, followed by the rest of the rescue group.

The team was well balanced in skill. Skye would warn of the presence of guards before they were seen, Phantom supplied roundabout routes to their eventual destination as J'shaar kept them going inexorably towards the Mentors.

They reached the sealed room and Billy stepped to the fore, decoding and unlocking the door mechanism as they entered into the presence of the captive Council of the Wise.

Billy could hardly accept how shaken he was at the sight of their mentors reduced to such dire straits. It undermined his confidence in what they were doing in ways he couldn't define. Always the Mentors had been their constant in all their struggles and guided them inexorably to victory, until they had been taken from them. He shook off the disturbing, insecure sensation and looked around at the others.

"Go - quickly," he gestured, and the group scattered to put the local teleportation devices on the assortment of cages and confinements that held all of the Mentors captive. The inhabitants of the cages stirred, disbelieving of what was happening, and as murmured phrases of explanation rang out so did almost immediately the sirens.

"Shit! Just once it would be nice to do a rescue uninterrupted!" Billy swore. "Buy us time," he shot across to Jason and Phantom who armoured up immediately and took a stance at the door as the first troops turned up ... and proceeded to wipe the floor with them with cool efficiency.

"Go - go - go!" Billy yelled as they ran from mentor to mentor. "Zordon, are you okay?" he asked as his fingers practically blurred with the speed he was working at.

"Billy? I was not expecting a rescue ..." the ancient Eltarian sounded dazed.

"Well, you're getting one." The Wolf Ninjetti looked up. "Soon you'll be home. Triggered and ready to charge. Trini, I'm going to help Jason and the others..." and he leapt into action.

Around the chamber charging powerpacks flickered as more assailants leapt into the room.

A light blinked green and Trini threw off a quantron and slapped the activate button on the device with grim satisfaction. A roar of light and Alesto, cage and all, teleported to the waiting cloaked Owlzord. The metallic foes were not stupid and targeted the devices despite spirited attempts from the Ninjetti to foil them. There was a flash of silver as the Nid-hi Ilana joined the conflict and the tide of battle turned distinctly against the Ninjetti. The silver dragon-featured alien was dazzling in her fighting skills and occupied at least four of them by herself.

"Get them out of here!" Jason called out over his shoulder and Skye, who was lurking out of the mainstream of the fighting, concentrated on evading the distractions and sent the Mentors one by one to the OwlZord as Trini and Dulcea took on the task of covering his back. In the midst of the chaos Billy became aware of something. A horrible sensation. The sort of sensation that could wake a sleeper in the middle of the night, with the certain knowledge that within the darkness that envelops you, an even darker shape lurks, watching ... ready to touch you at your most vulnerable moment. An icy fear gripped him and he shivered while that sensation grew until it burned, every instinct screaming at him to run as an endless mist began to coalesce. The Power in this being was beyond measurement.

"Oh ... my God!" Trini choked, backing away, filled with a gut-wrenching fear.

A rumbling laugh filled the room. "I could be that ... yes ... or the Adversary!" It stole images from their subconscious to manifest in physical form a creature designed from their most primal terrors.

"This is it?" the Face of Hell spoke forth in great amusement, its image wrought of despair and terror. "_This_ is my challenge?" and he roared with laughter. They backed away in fear ... but did not flee in panic as had been his design.

"Trini, Dulcea ... C'Haal and Zordon ... and you ... go! Go!" Billy said urgently, trying to bury his fright. That was one thing they had all been taught; confront the fear and not let it rule them and he _couldn't_ let the Darkness Visible get Dulcea, the last piece of the puzzle.

"Oh, I don't think that will be happening, cubling." The Darkness Visible shifted to a loathsome fish-demon shape. Billy felt his irrational phobia rise up and a strange out-of-place image of a swirling orb, but shook it off and signalled Trini and Dulcea again. They went reluctantly in a flash of teleportation, praying the others would follow.

"Now that was very stupid, " the Darkness Visible sighed. "Well, I shall just kill you all, then. What a waste."

Kerrin had slipped back to Skye and whispered, "Distract him! Otherwise you'll lose your friends ... all your friends!"

Skye hesitated, his fear nearly overwhelming him, and then nodded. As the creature lifted a hand, he released the restraints on his form and the ghostflame of the Phoenix surrounded him like a beacon. Immediately the Darkness Visible's head whipped around and a cruel smile appeared. "Well, well ... it's you, is it?"

Phantom phased out of view and tried to get close enough to kill the creature as it stalked across to pounce on the vulnerable Phoenix Ninjetti, who was ineffectively trying to run backwards. The Phantom Ranger blurred out of invisibility and drawing an assassin's blade plunged it deep into the side of the solid monster.

The Darkness Visible looked down and shook its head, reaching inside the mind of his assailant. There was an abrupt shift and an image of Cassie with Kerrin's blade embedded in her side, rivulets of dark blood gushing artistically forth and a tragic look on her familiar face ... Phantom recoiled, horrified.

"Don't ... don't you love me?" the perfect replica asked piteously. "Why?... I ..." there was a weak cough and a blossom of bright, bright blood from her mouth.

"Cassie!" Kerrin stepped forward as the image of the Pink Astro Ranger raised a trembling hand towards him, and in a moment where his instincts were confused he reached out to her ...

and was bowled over by the Red Lion Ninjetti as a blast of deadly Power crackled forth from that hand.

"Well ... this is fun." The image pulled out the ebony blade and looked at it curiously. "Interesting. Can you pierce a cloud, can you stab a shaft of light?" it asked rhetorically. "Creatures of Chaos ... always seeking death as an answer." There was a sigh and the figure before them dissolved into a black mist which swirled towards the Phoenix Ninjetti and coiled around him.

"Billy ... Trini ...!" Skye's voice was panicked and terrified; he was seemingly unable to move, though he was lifted up.

"Oh dear, oh dear ..." The image of a man holding him appeared and Skye was paralysed with fear, eyes wild.

"Oh God ... Michael." Billy recognised the image that had been adopted and looked at his friend, who was practically hyperventilating with fright.

The Darkness Visible seemed fully aware of what effect it was having. "Pathetic ... to think I was even mildly worried about you. Do you know what Power lies within you? You don't even understand, do you? And what have you done? You've given that to another. The Power of the Universe inside of you, and I can do ... this ..." and he pushed Phantom's knife slowly into the paralysed Ninjetti's leg, exactly where the initial wounding had taken place all those years ago, undoing the miracle that had occurred on Phaedos.

Skye cried out in pain and fear and the image of the man smiled. "And you can do -- nothing ... I'll keep you, I think. Yes. There will be a way of unlocking that Power for my purposes, I'm sure."

Billy ran forward.

__

Can't fight energy with matter, but energy with energy...the reason why the Ninjetti are the only ones that can hurt the forces of the Darkness Visible is because our energy can hurt it!

As he had before, he drew the Spirit Fire up, through him and hurled it at the cloud of black mist and the fire clung and ripped, eliciting a sharp exclamation of pain from the Darkness Visible. It caused very little in the way of damage, but was enough to get it to release its grip on the Phoenix Ninjetti who dropped to the floor.

It was angry, _very_ angry. "You! You shall ... ow!" Jason had clipped him from the other side with another Spirit Energy blast. Gnats attacking a giant, but enough to cause a distraction to one who had not experienced hurt in an aeon. Billy darted forward and grabbed Skye from the heart of darkness as J'shaar, Jason, Kerrin and the Chi'iten harassed the Zha Kha-rhee'aa.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Billy instinctively dropped back next to Jason.

The immensely powerful Entity had now lost patience and the mist grabbed at the nearest Ninjetti, the Chi'iten Vy and lifted the valiant insectoid to be torn to pieces in front of its comrades as an object lesson. The Master Ninjetti responded with a vibrant jade slice of its Master Power that ripped harmlessly through the creature, but proceeded to travel blade-like through the entire fortress, wreaking havoc and destruction. The satellite structure shook as its power source spilled out of containment, subspace mixing with realspace in a terrible reaction. The Darkness Visible roared and crushed its captive absently, casting the mortally wounded Chi'iten Ninjetti to the floor as it whirled, seeking to leave itself.

Ru turned to the others, its wings unfurled, shimmering with rainbows. "Go ..." he gave a short powerful slice and the inside of Owlzord could be seen, through the tear in space.

"Come with us," Billy urged, hefting Skye to be supported by his shoulder, assisted by Jason.

"I am already dead," Ru said with dignity. "My Spirit's heart has stopped beating and we are one. It is but a husk that waits to breathe its last that stand here before you, and soon I will be gone. I hear the Song ... it calls me to join with my other self. Do not fail us." And the mantid warrior turned and set about shredding space in a blazing death fury. The sorrowful Ninjetti tumbled back into the waiting Zord and under the cover of Silence sped away as the Fortress exploded outwards into real space and then was sucked into the turbulent fluid of subspace without a trace of its existence remaining.

~*~

Trini found Billy and wordlessly embraced him before turning to more serious business.

"Vy-Ru?" she asked.

Jason shook his head. "Dead," he announced regretfully. "Do you think he managed to take the Darkness Visible with him?" he asked, wanting the sacrifice to have been as meaningful as possible and hopefully the last necessary.

A strained voice sounded from Skye. "No ... It's still alive. " He still looked preternaturally pale.

Trini grieved inwardly. She respected the great Chi'iten; their loss was a severe blow and brought home the reality of the deadly situation. "What happened?" she asked as they helped

Skye to lie down, the ebony hilt still protruding from his leg, his pale grey trousers saturated with a blackness of blood.

"The Darkness Visible happened." Billy frowned, starting to piece together what had been happening and reaching some inescapable conclusions. "It was taking images from our minds, deep images, effortlessly, and ... playing with us."

"I agree," J'shaar replied. "I get the impression that it could have destroyed us at any time if not for the distraction caused by Skye of Earth."

"He appeared as the person who nearly killed him." Billy confided in Trini, knowing she at least would understand. "And Phantom tried to stab its solid form, and it turned into Cassie and tormented him ..." He looked sharply at Kerrin. Now _that_ was interesting.

"Speaking of which," Skye said, more settled now. "Would Phantom like his blade back? I'm more than willing to get rid of it." The last was a weak attempt at humour.

Jason approached from his quiet reunion with Dulcea and crouched next to the injured Ninjetti. "You realise you are making this into a habit?" he said seriously. "Ask Billy and Trini, I tend to get a little annoyed and loud if one of my friends manages to get hurt too often."

Billy grinned. "Unbelievably loud," he said wryly. "Spare your ears and try not to get hurt again?" he requested.

"I'll work on it." Skye promised, taking sharp inhalations to control the pain.

"In that case ..." The group gathered around him, taking his hands and holding him as, by common assent, Kerrin took a grip on the knife hilt and in a sharp movement pulled it clear. Dulcea immediately bound the wound as Skye relaxed his pain-tensed body, and Jason asked immediately, "You okay?"

Skye nodded mutely, not trusting his voice to be steady.

"You rest then; we'll soon have you home." The Red Lion Ninjetti promised with that total assurance that showed up with all Red Rangers anywhere.

Skye managed a smile. By the time they got home, he would have the wound half-healed. He knew at least there would be no time for convalescence. The Zha'kha-rhee'aa's words of "Ah well, I will just have to destroy you all" meant something more than the obvious threat. It thought it had enough information to accomplish its end and no longer needed them or the Mentors. Which meant nothing was going to hold it back now.

~*~

Halfway home and Kerrin was ostensibly watching over an apparently sleeping Skye as the others tended to the Mentors. In reality he was thinking deeply. He had had some preconceptions disturbed in the course of their recent conflict and hadn't yet worked out where they fell in his worldview. Jason. He had sided with him - why? They were rivals. He could accept that support, but under reversed circumstances would _he_ have been able to offer it? And the human had saved him. More to the point, he had saved him and not said a word about it afterwards, as if it was a totally natural thing to do. If he was trying to win him over, then he was missing a big opportunity. Come to think of it, the Red Lion Ninjetti had missed a _very_ big opportunity to resolve his situation; he could have just been a fraction of a second ... slower. Kerrin grimaced to himself. It couldn't have been an elaborate plan, could it?

Maybe it was, maybe they got away with comparatively few casualties and the Mentors because they were meant to. No ... that didn't quite fit. No. Besides, if Jason was a traitor, then he could have done himself a service in letting the one who was most suspicious of him die. But something didn't fit ... something disturbing had occurred and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Can you think a little more quietly?" Skye said, lying just across from him with his eyes closed but the Star Crystal glowing slightly as he concentrated on healing himself.

The Phantom Ranger startled. "You ... you heard that?"

"Well, some of it; it was a little loud," Skye admitted, opening his blue eyes and turning to the Phaedosian. "I can't honestly see what your problem is," he remarked in a tone designed to provoke a response.

"My problem? My problem is the Red Lion Ninjetti!" the Phantom Ranger exclaimed vehemently.

"Jason is no problem to you," Skye replied quietly. "You two are too much alike."

"Yes, we both want Dulcea," Kerrin said bitterly. "And he has no right!"

Skye winced slightly. "I think you are somewhat ... wrong."

"I know what I am talking about," Kerrin insisted and this elicited a snort of derision from the Phoenix Ninjetti. "Okay, so you apparently know better, do you?" he challenged.

Skye took a deep breath. "Sometimes observers have more perspective. You feel you SHOULD still love Dulcea because you have invested so much energy in grieving for her. It is not the nature of emotional beings to turn their back on anything they feel connected to ... and you are no exception. But the fact remains, Kerrin - you can only take a Master Power of the Ninjetti if you experience True Love ... and Jason and Dulcea both could claim a Master Power of the Ninjetti. That is _fact_."

The Phantom Ranger was astonished. "But ... no ..."

"I'm sorry to do that to you, but a fact is a fact." Skye's expression softened. "But there is something else."

"I don't think I want to hear." Kerrin got up suddenly, a millennia-old mindset crumbling in the wake of those words. He felt vulnerable and open.

"Oh, I think you will." Skye paused. "When the Darkness Visible reached into our deepest minds and took the images that would terrify us most ... whose death did it find for you? It could have been, should have been Dulcea's ... but it wasn't, was it?"

Kerrin's face looked shocked, and then his expression softened. "But ... I've barely known Cassie."

"How long does it take to fall in love?" Skye responded. "Ironically the Darkness Visible had no reason to fool you - it sought the deepest Truth to wound you with."

"Cassie?" Kerrin asked again, of himself more than of Skye. "But I couldn't love her because I was pledged to the memory of ..."

"A no-longer-dead Dulcea who is in love with Jason," Skye summarised. "And believe me, they _are_ in love. You might want to think about that." He lay back, somewhat tired out by the discussion, and closed his eyes again.

Kerrin looked across at the Phoenix Ninjetti and said softly, almost to himself, "Yes ... yes, I will."

~*~

The sleek form of the DolphinZord swam through the dark seas of space at great speed. Triforia had been in chaos as refugees flocked towards it and Aquitar for sanctuary. The entire planet was mobilised for war and it was then that Justin realised this most _definitely_ had not been a pity mission; this was deadly serious. Earth had escaped much of this, being a remote stronghold, but Triforia was out on the front lines.

Trey had been a little surprised by his appearance and had personally helped Justin store the FerianX in the containers the young genius had designed.

"The less people who know about this, the better," the Gold Ranger said as he guided the antigrav transports in. "Billy said this was a secret weapon of sorts. I do not know his intention, for most methods of deploying it result in immediate explosion, but I'm sure he knows that."

"Yep," the youngster agreed. "Gonna have to watch it on the trip back. Any likely trouble spots?" he asked as they worked rapidly.

Trey frowned. "I assume you came the shortest way, through the double star system of Sirius? You will have to avoid that gravitational stress, so I suggest going back along this gradient." He flashed up the star map and sketched a basic route.

"The Allies' fleet is massing here ... in Triforian space. The Ninjetti fleet is at Phaedos and the Chi'iten space fleet is here. With the armada of the Nid-hi and the UAE massing here ..." and Trey gestured to a point not far from where Justin's proposed route arced across the heaven, "but heading this way, away from Earth ... towards Phaedos ... you should be fine."

"Got it," Justin nodded. "I better get going back. I'll have to go slow with this cargo." He looked at the FerianX. Dubiously.

"Fly safely, Dolphin Ninjetti ... and we shall meet again." The Prince of Triforia inclined his head and bid him farewell.

Despite his somewhat enthusiastic nature, Justin had learnt how to be cautious when it was necessary. Playing around was important to him, but the serious business of staying alive took precedence. He followed Trey's advice carefully, by necessity travelling at a far-reduced speed than his initial trip out to Triforia. He had 'cheated' on that road trip by using an inertialess pod so he could travel at great speeds, more than a normal human could survive . He made a note to pass his design on to Billy when he got back.

He was sketching some simple unit designs as his Zord was skimming through the Lerian system when suddenly a proximity alert flashed up.

"What? There shouldn't be anything out here," Justin said to himself, frowning as he ran some more scans with some of the DolphinZord's more detailed scanners. He scowled as a three-dimensional tracking system came up, ablaze with tiny marker lights. "But our fleet is at Triforia ..." hesitating a moment, he turned DolphinZord to sweep around the edges of this mass of strange force.

As the swift blue DolphinZord swam across the fringes of that armada, Justin's eyes widened. Sleek needlelike craft unlike those of any of their allies glinted in the light of the distant stars, thicker than the shoals of fish in all the oceans of Earth.

"Oh shit ..." Justin stared, frozen for a bit. "Time to run." He kicked up the speed and hightailed it, barely avoiding a returning black fighter. "Whoa!"

****

"Warning ... containment integrity in jeopardy," the computer warned.

He evaded carefully, smoothing out the containment balance whilst looking at the fighter's course, a chill of fear settling in his stomach. He managed to avoid detection, or at least the fighter did not turn and pursue.

Shaking a little at nearly having run into the monster's mouth, Justin took a moment to breathe in the isolation of the DolphinZord and then his sharp mind began to put bits of information together.

"Computer - based on scan information, extrapolate the deviation from the expected trajectory of the unknown enemy fleet and its eventual destination."

__

Please be wrong ... please be wrong, he muttered to himself.

****

"Deviation, angled bearing 73 degrees from original course. Prospective path of systems by name of principal planet. Ilan, Gurransha, Sewanaeth, Jurakaw, Varsoom, Earth ..."

"Cease calculation ... Dammit!" Justin paled, just KNOWING which of those systems was the Enemy Armada's ultimate destination. "They're going to Earth. Going to my home! I've gotta warn them ..." and he upped his speed as high as it would go, praying he would beat the fleet back in time.

~*~

Trini had been mildly surprised that Skye could even bear weight on his leg as they disembarked OwlZord, still essentially invisible as it returned home. But then it appeared her friend had not been stripped of his healing ability, for which she was very grateful.

The Mentors were led or transported into the newly-constructed Council Complex, a central chamber complete with warp transdimensional systems and twelve individual habitats and personal chambers, tailored to each Mentor's needs. They seemed to be recovering from their ordeal with startling rapidity, which was just as well.

Billy was frowning as he joined the returning group. "I have a horrible feeling that something is going very wrong right about now," he grumbled.

"More so than usual?" Tommy asked, coming up. He looked tired. "Way to go, guys." He slapped Billy on the shoulder in congratulation.

"We lost Vy-Ru," Billy said, feeling that loss all the more now that they were in comparative safety.

"We heard," Tommy replied solemnly.

"Something is very wrong," Billy repeated. "I keep running over what happened and I can't help but think there might be something to what Phantom was saying," he confided in the White Falcon Ninjetti.

"What are you talking about? The guy's paranoid. He's spent so much time running around with the UAE on his tail, he sees traitors everywhere," Tommy said reassuringly.

"We got out too easily." Billy shook his head.

"Didn't sound easy to me," Tommy commented, looking at his genius friend with concern.

"Tommy, we have met the enemy and no word of a lie, if it wanted to swat us, it could have done so without breaking into a sweat," Billy replied, sounding a little despondent. "And we have a problem ... one thing we _did_ learn is that it is not going to be heading to Phaedos anymore."

"What?!" Tommy froze. "The fleet is at Phaedos! Where the hell are we meant to be?"

Billy shook his head, unsure. "_That_ is what we have to find out."

Zack popped his head around the corner. "Justin's phoning home ... sounds important!" he called out down the corridor.

"Right." Billy and the others walked swiftly to the operations centre.

"BlueDolphin calling Earth ... come on, guys!" Justin's voice contained more than a hint of desperation.

"We're here, Justin!" Tommy said aloud.

"Great." Justin's voice seemed deeper, more adult than normal. "We've got a problem. Big problem."

"We're listening," Kim said from beside Tommy.

"I'm just on my way back from Triforia - and nearly ran straight into the Enemy fleet on a trajectory heading that has a termination point at Earth," Justin reported clinically.

There was a pause.

"You sure?" Billy queried, his voice holding the slightest trace of a quaver.

"Checked and double checked," Justin's voice replied. "They are putting their foot down, too, for such large ships. Three days and they'll be on the doorstep, about to kick the door in."

"Three days ... oh man." Jason looked around at the others. "But our fleet is at Phaedos ... and Triforia. They won't get here in time ..."

"They will if they have my inertia pods. You can't do much once you are in them, but they allow the Zords to travel full throttle," Justin said helpfully.

"For all the hundreds of thousands of Zords?" Tanya shook her head. "It can't be done."

Billy, however, was moving rapidly to a console. "Justin, I want that inertia pod design _now_. Send it across."

"Right ... sending ..." There was a long delay, but eventually the information turned up.

Billy looked it over, nodded and then keyed in a rapid series of commands and broadcast that information. "There ... I've sent it to the Zebeedees. It'll probably take six hours to make the pods or thereabouts, and a full day at high speed to get back here. We need some emergency measures ... and I need to speak to the Mentors straight away. Let's get everyone together for a meeting. I think it is time that this secrecy ended. If we'd known before, then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation. Let's do this now." And the tone of his voice made it not so much an order as an irrevocable statement of how things were going to be.

~*~

The Council Chamber was used this time and for once it wasn't littered with food, out of deference to the Council of the Wise who were in attendance.

Jason stood up, taking control in a seamless fashion. "I call this meeting to order and welcome all participants to this most critical of discussions," he announced in a surprisingly authoritative voice.

Billy looked at him in surprise and Trini leaned across to him. "Jason always was the best Chairperson at the Summit," she whispered to him. "Never stood for too much rhetoric and gave a good hearing to everyone."

Billy raised his eyebrows. "I shouldn't be surprised, but I am," he said quietly.

Trini smiled and Billy noted that Zack didn't appear shocked either, though some of Jason's friends were rapidly reassessing their conceptions of him as purely a man of physical action.

"As is evident," Jason gestured to the Mentors around them all, "the initial rescue mission was a success, though I regret to inform you that the Chi'iten Masters Vy-Ru were lost in the process, enabling others to escape. We will honour them for their sacrifice when our peril is not so immediate, but their heroism was necessary to bring us the information vital to this endeavour. With this in mind, I would appeal to the Council of the Wise to make full disclosure of all information so we can devise a full and informed battle strategy." Jason sat down again and Dulcea looked on proudly. How deftly he had manoeuvred them, making full disclosure a method of honouring the dead!

"Fellow Council Members ..." she rose to her feet, "our pupils have surpassed us in Power and wisdom, it appears. In your unfortunate absence, this group here assembled has quested for and achieved the Master Powers of the Ninjetti, and Blue Wolf Ninjetti has become the Will of the Phoenix, as the Prophecies foretold. There has been another additional manifestation of the Prophecy on Triforia since your incarceration - the transcripts you have been able to peruse. Now it is time to reveal your knowledge, as I will reveal mine."

"Very well," Zordon boomed. "You are correct, it is beyond time for the information to be shared."

"Better late than never," Tanya muttered aside to Adam.

Some of the information that was brought into the open was somewhat redundant; they had figured out about the Master Powers themselves, though it turned out that several of the Mentors shared information about the capabilities of the potential Powers that set many of them to thinking.

"So you are saying we have minor capabilities ... like Adam can disguise himself in illusion any time he wills it," Billy summarised. "But when he invokes the full force of his Glyph in a one-off shot ... that is limited only by his imagination and force of need."

"... and the limitations of the Glyph Power he holds. He would not, for example, be able to raise a massive fireball ... but he could raise the illusion of one," Alesto responded.

"I get it." Billy chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Maybe we were premature invoking your Master Power, J'shaar."

The Drakin looked unconcerned. "It served its purpose. There is no saving and never using - and it works even now."

C'haal rumbled. "Yes; relatively minor manifestations are made permanent abilities ... but a major alteration of the universe is time-limited."

"Okay ... weak and longlasting, or strong and fast," Jason nodded. He looked over at Billy, having picked up that he wanted to ask something.

The Blue Wolf Ninjetti stood, feeling more nervous than he had in the other meeting when it had just been them.

"Your other information that the Darkness Visible is not attacking Phaedos is already known to us. We know now they are coming to Earth."

Zordon looked startled even through the distortion of the transdimensional warp.

"And it makes sense. Why else would Zordon, one of the foremost members of the Council of the Wise and members of the Alliance of Light be posted on a backwater planet far out on the galactic arm?" he asked rhetorically. "Why would space villain after villain seek out _this_ planet to conquer? When there are many more valuable and prosperous and frankly less troublesome worlds to subjugate? Because there is something here that they want. When I was questioned by Dark Spectre and the Nid-hi ..." Billy's face went grim, but he did not falter, "the answer they sought the most was where 'it' was. They are looking for an object. And I wish to know what this object is and why it is the cause of an impending Galactic War."

There was utter silence for a moment as many of the Council of the Wise were obviously ignorant of this fact. In the end it was Takope who spoke.

"That was the Wisdom entrusted to my line," he said in his quiet voice. "But we never knew where it was or if it still existed in our plane of reality."

"It does," Zordon interjected. "Billy is correct. It is somewhere in this system, but even I know not where it is, because that secret is too close."

"But what _IS_ it?" Billy pressed impatiently.

"It is ... the sum of many realities, a physical form of the structures that define natural Law across time and space. It contains the possibilities, the probabilities of ... everything."

Takope spread his hands in an all-encompassing gesture.

"That's nice," Rocky said into the ensuing uncomprehending silence. "But I think what we need to know is WHAT it can do?"

"Once it is active, it would respond to the mind of the observers and literally make their thoughts a reality. It is the Ultimate Power, your thoughts made manifest. The Ninjetti wrested it from the Darkness Visible in the last conflict by guile."

"Hang on ... hang on, how did they beat someone with that sort of Power?" Tommy interrupted. At last they were going to find out how the Darkness Visible was defeated last time!

"The Orb of Order, as the Darkness Visible called it, was not active. It would not respond to Its thought," Takope said and looked at Zordon who continued the tale.

"The first Master Ninjetti, Bar'ak, managed to unlock his inner Master Power by accident and wakened the Orb to his thought to banish the Darkness Visible while they struggled as the Ninjetti were shattered and broken in the conflict. His first thought was not of destruction, but just to get the monster as far away from him as possible, a natural instinct ... and It was gone - just like that. Bar'ak however, was wounded by his contact with the Orb, although it was only fleeting. Nevertheless, knowing he had merely postponed the War, rather than finished it totally, he used its Power to create the WardStones, craft the Star Crystal, the Master Powers and perceive enough of the future to set in place the Prophecies. Each time, the Orb drained more of his life and his final act was to hide the Orb ... and then die. His hope was that the Orb would never be discovered by anyone, let alone the Darkness Visible. Truly it does not belong in this reality."

__

Well then ... it all begins to fall into place. Billy tapped the table with his pen as he thought. "We can't use it ourselves?"

Takope shook his head. "It is too powerful to use directly, which is why the Master Powers were created, and they in themselves hold so much Power that the testing had to be most rigorous, on every level."

"You're not kidding," Rocky muttered, thinking of his back and all his anguish.

"Right; now we know the stakes, the strategy is different," Billy summarized heavily. "Our primary goal is to stop the Darkness Visible, our secondary to protect Earth." He didn't like it, but that was the way it was. That had a grim reaction around the table, but again they all nodded agreement.

The discussion moved then onto the actual battle strategies, and a lot of wrangling went on between the various parties, as there were unconscious attempts to put certain people out of danger, with the Mentors being surprisingly vehement about the way the battle should go.

"The aim of the battle is to get the Darkness Visible to invoke its full Power into a chosen vessel, and _then_ the Shahin Tara Zed shall be deployed. It is written!" Rhahamadha said forcefully, reiterating the words of the other Mentors.

"The aim is to stay alive," Billy refuted, bristling a little. "And his name is Skye, alright? He is a person still." That attitude was starting to annoy him.

"Nevertheless, Billy," Zordon interupted placatingly, "It is the way things are. At the height of the battle, the Shahin Tara Zed, the _Starbird-Striking,_ is Prophesised to battle the form of the beast. Born of Darkness Visible." He intoned the well-worn words of Prophecy once more.

"Yeah, well ... that doesn't mean we can't improvise," Billy replied as they wrangled some more. Eventually he tired of the ceaseless talk, drafted a list and passed it on to Jason.

"Quiet!" Jason bellowed, having looked the list over. "Billy has made a few suggestions which I believe we should adopt or vote on swiftly. Time is running out here, and talking in circles is not getting us anywhere."

As silence descended, Jason looked around and said in a crisp tone, "Good. First appointment, as discussed earlier - Phantom will meet and co-ordinate the Allies' Fleet and try and get them here as soon as possible. Second major appointment - Rocky will be responsible for logistics and strategy."

"Wha ... what?" the Red Ape Ninjetti looked up, startled.

"As Billy points out, your Master Power is Communication ... and that is the key to successful logistics and strategy. Without good communication, we lose before we start." Jason said with a smile. "Those in favour?"

"Aye!"

"Consider yourself appointed." Jason looked at the piece of paper. "The suggestion follows that we establish two fronts. Frontline and HomeGuard. Command of the Frontline operations will go to ... Tommy." He paused only momentarily as he said that. "He will organise tactics and command the majority of the fleet.

"The HomeGuard will consist of relatively few individuals, but mainly holders of the Master Powers - principally those whose Powers are potentially more use on a planetary basis. Jason ... I will head up that team. Delphine will also be allocated to Earth defence, Cestro to Power Chamber control. Adam, Zack, Kat and Aisha will be on this team, with additional responsibility to protect Rocky and maintain the supply lines. Billy and Skye will try to stay out of frontline action until they are required. All other Ninjetti Masters will be spread evenly through the fleet and will be reassigned on a flexible basis. All those in favour?"

"Aye!"

"Refinements will undoubtedly occur, but at least we vaguely know what we are doing," Jason concluded. "And on this note ... this meeting is adjourned."

In an excited babble, the assembled Ninjetti rose and set off to adjust to their assigned roles.

Billy collected his papers; waving Trini and Skye on, he turned to leave, but the Mentors called him back for a private word.

"Just a moment, William of Earth." The cold tones of Alesto sounded in the emptied room. "We must speak with you alone." The Wolf Ninjetti halted, feeling an indefinable chill.

"Yes, Alesto?" he responded, standing obediently before them.

"We speak of the nature of the greatest Power of the Ninjetti and what it entails," Zordon said gently.

__

Uh-oh ... there's a tone that spells bad news, Billy thought and faced them, steeling himself inwardly. "What is it, Zordon?"

"The greatest Weapon of the Ninjetti can only be used once, so it is imperative that it is used at the correct time if we are to prevail,"Alesto cut in.

"It ... as you put it ... is a human being. Skye, remember?" Billy corrected, his hackles raised.

"It would be best that you did not think of him so," Alesto counselled. "He has been altered into a Weapon and you must have no qualm in using him. It is your Purpose and Duty, William of Earth."

"There's something you are trying to tell me here," Billy challenged him. "I suggest that you actually _tell_ me."

There was silence and somewhere in that quietness, Zordon seemed to pull the short straw to break the harsh news. "Billy, this will be hard to accept, but the force of the Great Power, the Universal Great Power focused in one time and place, is too much for any _one_ person or thing to contain and remain in existence."

Billy stepped back from that uncomfortable truth. "No ... you are telling me that if I invoke the Star Phoenix Power, Skye will die?"

"_When_ you do so," Alesto corrected.

"There is no way I am going to do anything that will make me a murderer," Billy stated flatly and automatically, as his mind tried to deal with the horrific implications of what he had just been told.

"The one called Skye was made aware of this at Aquitar and then was given free choice by the Ninjor of Phaedos as to whether he would accept this certainty," Alesto said again. "He is now the Weapon of the Ninjetti and that is his Destiny. Yours is to choose the manner of his usage."

"Then I will not choose to use him at all. He is my friend - I cannot deliberately kill a friend!" Billy said again, his innermost instinct rebellling against what would be the death of a Packmate.

"Billy, you must." Zordon's familiar voice held a hint of command. "Blue Wolf Spirit Warrior of the Ninjetti, it is your Destiny to command the Shahin Tara Zed. It is your Duty ... it is this one life against the population of the Galaxy, and after the Galaxy perhaps more and more ..."

Billy shook his head, unable to think of rational explanations why this was so wrong.

"I ... can't ..."

"And if you don't," Alesto stated implacably, "then we will all die, including him. Including your family, your other friends ... and your love. This is the nature of your Choice, Blue Wolf."

"No!" Billy cried out, agonised. "You can't make me do this! "

"That is true, but the consequences if you do not act is the certain death of the entire Ninjetti Alliance, the destruction of your home planet and multitudes of other worlds besides," Alesto said harshly. "We are outnumbered, and many will fall even if we do prevail. We shall say no more, for you now understand the nature of your Duty. Skye is the Phoenix, you are his Will, and he will obey you, even though it may mean his death."

Billy was almost in shock. He'd suspected Skye did not expect to live, that much had been obvious, but for him to die by his hand? No ... shock and outrage warred within him, his emotions completely out of control as he stood while the Council of the Wise withdrew in silence, one by one leaving him alone with his tumultuous thoughts.

~*~

Billy emerged from his private audience with the Council of the Wise, his horror now turned to anger fed from a deep hurt. His eyes flashed fire with a rage few had ever even considered him capable of, let alone seen.

"Billy?" Adam looked at him, startled, as he stormed through the Power Chamber. "What's wrong?" Obviously the meeting with the Mentors had not gone well.

"Where is Skye?" Billy asked in a tense voice.

"In his quarters," Adam answered, perplexed. His sensitivity to his environment was flagging up some very strong warning signals. "Billy ... come on, just wait a moment. Let's talk about this." He'd never seen his friend like this. Billy didn't lose his cool, not really, and yet here he was on the verge of exploding.

"No! This has nothing to do with you, it's between us." He brushed Adam's hand off of his shoulder and stalked out of the room, much to the Frog Ninjetti's consternation.

Skye turned, feeling Billy's approach like a crackling electric thunderstorm of anger. He looked at the Wolf Ninjetti, remaining silent. The Star Crystal glimmered under the white hair, reacting to the burning emotions as Billy surged into the room.

Billy was gritting his teeth. "So - you knew, didn't you?" he said in a dangerously soft voice. "You DAMN WELL KNEW! All along!"

He was angry because he was being forced into a situation that he could not bear to face and the only one he could be angry at was the other uniquely involved.

"I ... suspected," Skye admitted quietly, still standing his ground.

"Suspected? You've known all along, haven't you?" Billy demanded. "With all your abilities, don't tell me that you didn't know!"

"Feeling isn't always the same as knowing!" Skye responded a little more forcefully. "And you knew more than I did, or as much ... you heard the Prophecies, you've studied the texts."

"Of course I knew you thought you would die, I would've had to have been blind to miss that!" Billy replied angrily. "I'm not an idiot!"

Skye was starting to crack a little. For a long time he had walked alone with this secret. "Then stop behaving like one!" he snapped back.

"Fine ... I'll be the responsible Ranger then, shall I? Do my Duty without a word as Zordon and Alesto suggest?" Billy was enraged. "No-one said anything about this, no-one said that I would have to KILL you! Tell me if that isn't true? Hmm? No, I thought not."

Skye hung his head, aching inside. "I am sorry ... but if you don't invoke the Star Phoenix Powers, then _everyone_ dies ... including me."

"And if I do ... you die from the totality of the Great Power rushing through you - oh yeah, and that's much better, isn't it? If I do nothing, you die; if I do anything, you die ... great choices you've given me there," Billy said sarcastically. "Why don't you give me a gun and ask me to put a bullet through your head - that would be simpler, wouldn't it?"

Skye lost it. He whirled on Billy, the Star Crystal blazing red with anger in his forehead.

"What the hell do you want me to do? Get down on my knees and beg you to kill me? To make it easier? Huh? You think I _want_ to die? When I was given back a life that contained friends that I love so much it hurts, when I discovered that life was _not_ just pain and darkness, but even in the shadow of danger contained joy and love? Do you really think I want to leave that?" Once he had begun, the usually placid artist could not stop. "No! I don't - and yet for those same reasons, I accepted the reasons life was leased back to me again ... I care about them all, I care about life and living so much I am willing to protect it ... I want to live so much I am willing to die!"

"But it's NOT your decision, is it?" Billy interrupted. "You've made it mine. Well, I make the decision ... I'm not going to be a party to ANY of this!"

Skye inhaled sharply, shocked. "You cannot! That would destroy everything," he began.

"It isn't right! You should never have USED me like this!" Billy accused.

Skye stepped forward, furious. "What type of Ninjetti are you!? What type of friend?" Skye shot back, his blue eyes matching Billy's in azure fire. "Turn your back on your Duty and your friends, will you?"

There was a momentary silence as Billy was choked speechless by an incandescent rage. "How DARE you! You say that to _me_? Who has put his duty and his friends first all his life! Get OUT! Get out of here! I don't want to see you or speak to you - I'll find another way without YOU!" he yelled in a fury beyond thought.

Skye's expression filled with anguish as he halted mid-retort and in a smothered silence half- ran from the room.

Billy sank to the floor and pressed his hands to his eyes, to try and force the piercing needles of bitter tears back whilst his body heaved with soundless sobs alone in the darkness.

~*~

Trini stumbled, suddenly overwhelmed by the backwash of pain and sorrow from both Skye and Billy, and as Tommy reached for her, he realised with great consternation that tears were flowing down her face.

"Trini? Trini, what's wrong? Kim, Aisha - help me here!"

The three of them assisted her up in concern. "Trini?" Kim asked. "What's wrong?"

"Billy ... Skye ... terrible argument," she gulped out between sobs.

"I don't believe it," Aisha said, alarmed. "Those two are the best of friends!"

Trini felt dizzy, the mentally overwhelming riotous anger-explosion fading to an aching quietness and profound sense of despair and loss in her head. "I don't know how or why ... but ... yes ... it's happened. We have to stop this ..." She stood shakily. "Stop it before time runs out."

Tension spilled like a taint through the Power Chamber as the repercussions of the argument began to spread. That Billy and Skye had argued had at first been a matter of utter disbelief, replaced now with incontrovertible fact. Billy had initially refused to see anyone for the best part of the rest of the day, and Skye ... no-one had a clue where Skye had gone. Time passed, filled with the urgent tasks of preparing for the coming conflict and on an issued suggestion from Billy, locked away in his room, Jason, Zack and Delphine were sent to various governments around the world to inform them they were going to have a percentage of their nuclear arsenals appropriated and that they should prepare for action in the next 48 hours. Trini eventually managed to get Billy to tell her what had happened, and to her alone he poured out the terrible secret that burdened him to her dawning horror and understanding of why he had reacted so badly, and why he now felt that Skye would never forgive him.

Rocky in the meantime had taken it upon himself to track down the missing Phoenix Ninjetti and enlisted some of the others in the moments they were not busy elsewhere. In the end it was Kim he turned to after Kat reminded him of that strange resonance bond that appeared to exist between them. With her enhanced abilities as a Master Ninjetti, she was able to actively attune that sensitivity to locate him ... tucked away in the very depths of the enormous Power Chamber Complex.

The small room they tracked him to was in utter darkness as the group, consisting of Rocky, Kat, Kim and Tommy, entered cautiously. The vestiges of faint light glinted on the Star Crystal embedded in the Phoenix Ninjetti's forehead, not quite concealed by his white hair as he sat staring into space.

"Lights on," Tommy commanded.

Kat stifled a gasp as she saw Skye revealed by the light, his face haggard, dark tear-born circles stamping misery onto his features. He actually appeared to be shaking, and she remembered abruptly he had been wounded barely a day or so previously.

"Skye?" Rocky stepped forward. "You ... you okay?"

Kim rolled her eyes. That was such a ... Rocky thing to ask, but at least it got things started.

"Not really," Skye replied in a dead voice, not looking up.

Kim sat next to him. "It's going to be okay," she said quietly. "We all know you and Billy argued," she began, "and that you and he said things you both probably regret ... but can't you forgive him?" she pleaded.

Tommy sat down also. "Yeah ... it's not worth hating - let it go, man."

Skye looked up at them with such raw emotion in his eyes that Kim felt a lump in her throat.

"I want to."

Rocky smiled, pleased it was going to be that easy. "Well, let's go and sort this out right now!" he said, but Skye shook his head. "I can't," he stated simply.

"Come on," Tommy cajoled. "You can't let wounded pride stand in the way of friendship."

"You don't understand," Skye refused quietly.

"I do - I've nearly ruined my life through wounded pride," Tommy said, glancing across at Kim.

"No! I mean you _don't_ understand! I am not ABLE to speak to or see Billy!" Skye raised his voice.

The others fell silent in confusion, and Skye looked at them. "Yes, we argued; Billy will have resolved that issue now in his own mind ... but at the end ..." his voice wavered a little. "He ordered me to go away and that he did not want to see or hear from me and because of what I am now ... that is what I must do." They caught a glimpse of his expression as he looked away and flinched back from the look in his eyes.

It was Kim who realised what he meant. "You mean - you literally _have_ to do anything he says? If he orders you not to be in sight or sound of him, you have to do so? That is what is meant by him being the Will of the Phoenix?" she asked, horrified.

Skye nodded miserably.

"That's ... that's TERRIBLE!" Tommy burst out. Anything that involved loss of volition was a very painful subject for him. It had happened so often and nearly cost him so much, he hated to see it ever happen to anyone else.

"I have no control over orders from him. He could order me to kill ... and I would without hesitation, though I would know it was not something I wanted ... or to stop breathing ... and I would. It is the way the Power works," Skye explained.

"My God," Kat whispered, shocked, not wanting to even think about such a possibility.

Tommy shook his head. "How can you stand it? What the hell was Billy thinking, doing this to you!" He got up, thunder in his expression.

"I ... I don't think he is really aware of exactly how ..." Skye began.

"Rocky, come on," Tommy said, standing up suddenly, not waiting for further explanations. Rocky nodded, perceiving his intent, and the two Ninjetti walked purposefully out of the room.

"Oh boy," Kim sighed and put her arm around Skye comfortingly.

~*~

Billy was sitting grim-faced at his computer. If there was one thing this schism had done, it was to make him more determined than ever to find ways of defeating the Enemy without resorting to the Ninjettis' 'primary weapon'. He had accomplished an immense amount in a short space of time, and as the Ninjetti forces began to filter in around Moonbase, he was frantically setting things into motion for the upcoming battle.

Rocky and Tommy entered and were immediately intercepted by Trini. "This isn't a good time," she whispered.

"Good time or not, there are a few things that have to be said," Tommy replied and then called out. "Billy!"

"You don't know what this is about, Tommy," Trini warned in a hiss.

"Maybe not, but it is clear that genius or not, there are some things that Billy doesn't yet know himself." Tommy met her gaze steadily. "You want this sorted?"

Rocky had taken advantage of the discussion between the two to slip around to Billy

"Guess you know why were are here," he began.

"I don't want to talk about it. He doesn't, so neither do I," Billy replied, still tapping away absently.

"Billy, will you look at me a moment?" Rocky said in exasperation. "I have something important to tell you."

Billy looked at him, his eyes a mirror of Skye's in their hurt. "It's too late ... he won't forgive me. That much is obvious. He would have come back if he did - or something; we've known each other long enough for him to do that."

"Jesus ... you really don't know, do you?" Rocky searched his face carefully. "The reason he hasn't been back to apologise is because he _can't_!"

"What?" Billy frowned, not understanding.

Tommy looked around. "You heard him," he said a little more harshly than he had intended. "Dammit, you ..."

Rocky placed a restraining hand on Tommy's shoulder and interrupted. "Billy, I'm guessing here, but I suspect the argument had something to do with the Phoenix Powers, right?"

The Wolf Ninjetti nodded slowly.

"And something to do with you giving orders, right?"Rocky said astutely.

Startled, Billy shot a glance at Trini who looked as surprised as he did. "Er, yes ... there were certain decisions that I ... don't want to have responsibility for."

Tommy stepped forward. "Both of us held the Red, Billy, we understand what that means - but you have something we never had. You are the _Will_ of the Phoenix."

"Which means that your slightest word commands Skye in an absolute fashion," Rocky finished. "The reason that Skye hasn't made contact with you since you argued is because he _can't_."

Billy's face paled as he remembered how he had told his friend to get out of his sight, that he never wanted to see him again and how in mid-sentence the artist had turned and fled.

"Oh ... God ..."

"So now you know - what are you going to do about it?" Tommy asked pointedly. "He _wants_ to talk with you, but he can't."

"I'll go to him ... I didn't realise ... not that every word ..." Billy got up slowly. "Excuse me," he said, smoothing back his blond hair and half-running from the room.

"Think that'll do it?" Rocky asked Trini and Tommy hopefully.

"Well, it's a step in the right direction," Trini replied. "I feel really bad now. I should have sought Skye out ..."

"Frankly, Trini, sorting out Billy is your job," Tommy said, smiling. "But let's hope those two sort this out themselves."

~*~

Billy ran down to the room, having met Kim and Kat on their way back up to find him. He had misused a Power out of ignorance, he had hurt a friend for something that was not entirely his fault. He had lashed out at the one person most vulnerable to his words and now he had to find a way to heal that breach.

He opened the door to utter silence and darkness, and said hurriedly, "Skye, I order you to disregard my previous orders now ... I would like to see you if you wish to see me."

There was a sigh from high up in the beams where the Phoenix Ninjetti had been hiding, and he dropped down from the heights, stumbling slightly, raising his eyes to meet his friend's; wordlessly asking for understanding.

The Wolf Ninjetti stepped forward, reaching out tentatively. "I'm ... I'm sorry," he said simply, not knowing how to apologise for such a grievous crime against inner freedom, and the worst being that he knew it might have to happen again.

"So am I," Skye replied, stepping closer himself. "I knew you would not react well to this, but I was too afraid to say something before." At that moment, he looked very lost and alone.

Billy very carefully did something uncharacteristic and actually was the one who initiated the embrace of mutual forgiveness, his heart aching for the fact that it might be the last opportunity he might have to do this. He swallowed as he felt Skye cling to him for a long, long moment and then silently and regretfully let him go.

"Promise me something," Skye requested, so softly he wondered if he had heard it.

"Anything," Billy replied immediately.

"That you won't hold back from invoking the Power ... if my death means that our friends could live," Skye asked in a muted voice.

"Oh Skye ..."

"If you would give your life to save them, so would I. I trust you - I trust you completely to do what needs to be done," Skye said, giving him the absolution he needed in advance.

"I know," Billy sighed. "But I will try not to cause your death ... not if there is another way ... and I will FIND another way."

Skye gave a genuine smile. "I won't argue hard against that ambition. Come on - we don't have much longer."

And Billy nodded, reluctant now to let him out of his sight ... just in case, but they had so much to do ... and so little time as they went beyond the edge of night and the ancient Ninjetti warning stood ready to be fulfilled. _The Sun Goes Down, Beware the Darkness Visible._

~*~

Ilana bowed again. "Do you desire us to go after the Council of the Wise?" she asked, wondering at the Darkness Visible's seeming good humour after what appeared to be a serious setback with their loss of the Mentors. "I could lead an élite force inside their stronghold and take them again, or destroy them if it suits the Protector of Order."

The golden Nidhi shape appeared once more from the swirling dark mist. "No, my faithful one. It is not necessary."

"But will we not suffer that they know the information of the Mentors?" Ilana questioned.

"No, dearest," the Being laughed. "By letting them have the so-called Council of the Wise back, we have given them a script that they will be forced to follow. I have read their every move in the minds of their esteemed leaders, and of course ... when the time is right, I will destroy them from within. For every move a counter-move, for every plan a tactic, so that we will regain what was stolen from us."

"Your wisdom as ever leaves me in awe." The silver Nidhi bowed, still aglow at having been called 'dearest'.

The Darkness Visible allowed itself a measure of relaxation. "And we will reach our destiny when, my Chosen?"

Ilana's eyes shone with amethyst fire of eagerness as she reported the good news. "Within the day, Lord. We will take to the final battle and our victory on the morrow."

### End


	14. The Sun Goes Down

**_Disclaimer:- _**_Even after all this time no one has seen fit to give me rights to the Power Rangers – sad, but true. Yet here we are, the long-delayed conculsion to the 'Sun Goes Down' series which it really would help if you had read before attempting this one. It is dedicated to Dagmar and Mele in particular for their patience and assistance and just being good friends. Good friends who know when I need thwapping to get on with it and when I genuinely can't write for whatever reason and don't need to guilt trip on it. Thankyou to all those who have waited so patiently for this last installment, and I hope it was worth it! Enjoy!_   
  
  
  
  


**The Sun Goes Down**

**By Peregrine**   
  


_"So this is how it ends: the dark is all_   
_There is no ending to this final night,_   
_There is no answer to the silent call,_   
_Beyond the darkness, never glimpse of light."_   
_~ Dark Ending; Mercedes Lackey~_

  
  
  
  


Hurrying footsteps. The sounds echoed down the corridor, of someone desperately trying to walk faster than they effectively could but not having the space to run. Every now and then the urgency produced an increase in pace, but he had already run most of the way already and was also trying to think of a way to impart the news he had, without destroying what little hope they had left. 

"Even I'd want to shoot the messenger on this one," the Black Frog Ninjetti murmured aloud as he rounded a junction. Adam half-broke into a run as he finally reached the new Power Chamber, dark eyes searching instinctively for a figure dressed in blue … and rather disconcertingly finding several where he was used to finding one. 

"Billy?" Adam called out, hurrying over, tension in his every movement. 

From out of the crowd of Blue Ninjetti gathered around various consoles, one pushed back a chair. 

"Adam? The Phaedos fleet arrived yet?" Billy asked, still typing with one hand, giving a slight frown at the information on his screens. That wasn't so good … hmm. Perhaps if he moved the variables around a little, gave them a tweak, they might feel right. At the moment he was getting some strange information back from the Power Chamber's consoles. 

"Yes … well they were still landing at Moonbase when I had to return here," Adam began but was interrupted by Billy hastening on to what he thought was the conclusion. 

"Great … we'll get them settled in and then have a quick orientation session." The Blue Wolf Ninjetti nodded to himself, satisfied with that course of events. 

Adam took a deep breath. "There won't be time for that," he said and was aware of the sound around him fading out as people paused to listen. At one time that would have made him unbearably nervous but now it was what he had to say, not just saying it that was giving him a problem. 

"What?" Billy recognised the tone in his voice. "What's wrong, Adam?" 

"The Ninjetti first in have reported seeing the advance force of the Nid-hi … at …" Adam swallowed to wet a mouth suddenly dry with an immediate pounding fear so he could get this urgent message out. "At ... only a few hours outside our solar system." 

A deathly hush descended, paralysing everyone in the Power Chamber as Billy's pale face looked up at him, mutely begging him to tell him this wasn't true. 

"I'm … sorry," Adam said helplessly, knowing that this was really bad news, as they all did. He couldn't change the truth, however terrible it was, and found himself instinctively apologising for events out of his control as if somehow that would make it better. He was close enough to see his friend's hand shake before he pushed himself up, rapidly accessing data that confirmed this information. 

"How the hell did they manage that?" Justin blurted out with more than a hint of panic in his voice. "Last estimate gave us over a day before they were even close enough to think about!" 

"I made an error," Billy said in a tightly controlled voice. That had to be it, he had been the one mapping that data, so it was his responsibility. He must have missed something somewhere, only he was sure he had double-checked his conclusions and methodology over and over. 

"I must have underestimated their fleet capabilities. I made an assumption they were travelling at their optimum speed when they thought Phaedos was the target." The Blue Wolf Ninjetti paused for a moment, trying to hide the cycles of self-recrimination that would haunt him now from surfacing on his expression. Whatever the outcome, he would always remember this failure at the very start. He needed TIME … he needed time to prepare and now he'd lost that margin he had clawed back from the enemy in one moment of foolish stupidity. 

He nodded to Trini over at the other side of the console bank who opened a communications channel, her voice ringing out with a quiet authority in response to the inaudible communication between them. 

"All Master Ninjetti report to the Power Chamber immediately. I repeat, immediately. Ninjetti personnel to prepare for Zord offensive in one earth hour. Zord offensive protocols now in place!" 

"But …" Justin looked horrified, still finding it difficult to accept they had been so misled and immediately seeing their vulnerabilities with his keen mind, prioritising one of them to the top. "The Allies' fleet is nowhere near here yet … it's on the way from Triforia!" 

By now most people in the room had already worked that out and Adam remained watching Billy's face, seeing that momentary fleeting panic and despair cross his expression before he erased all but a faint anxiety as he turned to face everyone pouring into the Power Chamber from every entrance. 

Jason and Tommy practically ran in, stopping swiftly as they saw the expressions of those already there, halted by the nearly tangible tension that permeated the room in an oppressive atmosphere. By the time they were all assembled everyone KNEW there was something wrong, they just didn't know exactly what, and that in turn made them even more nervous and jumpy. Billy's close friends knew him well enough to recognise the signals; the brushing back of the hair, the slight frown despite the measured breathing that practically screamed that there was major trouble pending. 

"I need to buy back time," Billy muttered and then looked up. "Guys, we have a serious problem. The Darkness Visible and the Nid-hi will be in striking distance of Earth itself in less than six hours. Ideally we need to stop them before they even get that far, and we need that time to set up our Ninjetti fleet." 

The Ninjetti leaders looked at each other, unsure of where to start. All their battle plans of the past few days had been turned on their heads in one fell stroke and even their worst-case scenario had not envisaged being without some support. 

"Should we ask the Council of the Wise about this?" Rocky frowned, his mind aghast at the scale of this problem as Justin called up more direct information. The various downloads from the Zords that had just sped from Phaedos showed a variety of images of the vast space armada bearing down inexorably on their solar system, and its frighteningly close proximity to their point in space. 

Billy looked up at the images on the screen and fell silent for a moment. Cestro glanced at him sympathetically as the Blue Wolf Ninjetti made a hard decision, hearing the heavy sigh where others did not. 

"No. Because they would not condone what I am about to ask us all to do." Billy looked around, appealing to them with his eyes for co-operation. When they realised what one of his contingency plans was, they might balk at the idea. "Jason, Zack, Trini and any of you others with diplomatic skills – I need you now. Justin, pull up the WolfTech Plan, password Unilateral Disarmament." 

The young Blue Dolphin Ninjetti's eyes widened as he dutifully pulled up the hypothetical strategy that Billy required. A map of the world flashed up in their expanded viewing globe, complete with red marker dots clustered in various places. 

Jason frowned. He recognised that pattern … or at least he thought he did. From his days at the Peace Conference meetings, surely theyhad had some similar maps up, but he was trying to remember what for exactly. "Billy … what are you planning here?" he asked cautiously, looking at his longtime friend as if searching for signs of some coherent plan. 

The sandy-haired Ranger looked round and gave a slight half-smile, which was more an expression of his appreciation of irony than an attempt to be comforting. "You remember talking to me about the Peace Conference? How it made you just want to get all the leaders together and tell them disarmament was going to happen whether they liked it or not and to stop acting like kids who were clinging to toys just because someone was trying to take them away?" 

Jason blushed a little. "Er … yeah …" he shifted uncomfortably as he noticed his parents grinning in the background. Zack and Trini were also suppressing amusement. That was Jason all over. 

Billy tapped a rapid series of commands and the teleporter started a major power accumulation. 

"You may get your wish if this strategy is implemented. Cestro, you mind targeting and locking all these individuals and transporting them to our conference room?" Flash screens of famous faces appeared, Presidents, Leaders, Prime ministers. Billy looked at them a moment, people he had seen as wielders of the political powers of the world and now ... he was going to personally upset them a great deal. 

_"For a good Cause,"_ his wolf spirit soothed. 

_"It would have to be,"_ Billy replied mentally and took a deep breath before saying as nonchalantly as possible, "Jase ... you get to explain to them that we are appropriating their nuclear weapons." 

Now _that _caused a stir in the Chamber around them. It would be hard to believe that there wouldn't be some form of reaction to such a radical proposal, though the form it came in was not necessarily what anyone expected. 

"Wait, wait …" Rocky's mother stepped forward. "You can't just go around taking nuclear weapons!" She paused, looking around at the others. "Can you?" 

"Er …" Hank Cranston gazedat Billy steadily. "I believe he can. The WolfTech nanochip, right?" 

Billy nodded, grateful for his father's perception. 

"Yes, but … isn't that stealing? I mean, we're not talking shoplifting here!" Rocky's mother protested, the enormity of this was getting to her. This was something they all had a grounding in, that her generation had grown up with – the inherent horror of nuclear weapons. How delicate a matter it would be to disarm; how terrifying what a destabilisation of power could do, and here was a young man, barely old enough to be in college, dictating this impossible thing! 

"Mama, we're not dealing with something minor here either," Rocky intervened hastily. 

"I am perfectly aware of that. Otherwise he would be grounded so fast his feet wouldn't touch the ground!" Lillian DeSantos paused, realising how ridiculous that sounded. "Only … I haven't yet decided what sort of punishment appropriating the thermonuclear capability of a planet involves. The nearest precedent is Rocky breaking Aunt Louisa's Vase." 

For some reason the Ninjetti could not keep a straight face at that and the tension broke up into helpless chortles at the utter insanity of this situation. Here they were, discussing radically changing their world in such a dramatic fashion, and all it was from the perspective of the coming battle was … a delaying tactic. 

Jason, Trini and Zack had had more lectures than they cared to remember on the implications of such a thing and under the cover of the hysteria-tinged laughter, the Red Lion Ninjetti spoke in a low voice to his friend. "Are you SURE we have to do this?" 

Billy looked at him, leaning on the console, head turned sideways as if weighed down by an unbearable pressure. He felt old suddenly, weary beyond hope or belief. 

"If I could think of another way … I would," he admitted by way of a response. "We will just have to hope there is someone left with the maturity to see this as an opportunity, should we make it. Jase … I really need you to try and ... communicate to these leaders what is happening. The odds are more that they will actually make Earth strikes now. I hoped to keep them away and not even have them aware of danger … but I think we are beyond that point." 

"Lock is ready, Billy," Cestro informed him quietly, interrupting the private conference. 

Billy nodded, looking to Jason as if to search for condemnation in his face and apparently found none. 

"Teleport … and then begin the co-ordinate lock based on the military nano-chips that have been supplied by WolfTech. Every country in the world upgraded their missiles to compete with each other on that one," he sighed. "You best go, guys … there's a room full of confused world leaders who'd probably like to do more than ground me for a while." 

Jason nodded and along with Trini, Zack, Delphine, Sisthaa and J'shaar strode off to the conference room, wondering as he walked how it was that Billy was making these decisions and not the Mentors. Maybe his longtime friend had a good reason – maybe he really did give credit to Phantom's claim that there was a traitor among the Council of the Wise. Suiting up in full Ninjetti guise so he would be recognisable as a Power Ranger along with the others, he took a deep breath and stepped through the open door to the conference room into chaos.   
  
  


*** 

  


The atmosphere on the vast space fleet of the Darkness Visible was electric with excitement. Normally staid Nid-hi who usually comported themselves with dignity were behaving as badly as those who hadn't even shed their first horns. Finally the Purpose of their existence came down to here and now. They were the Chosen; they were coming out of the Outer Darkness to wage a Holy War. They were the ones of their race chosen to be alive here and now in the final confrontation and their minds were filled with the presentiment of destiny, coloured with myth and legend of their ancestors. It was an intoxicating thing to have such a meaningful focus to your life as a battle between Good and Evil, especially when you were so obviously in the right. That surety flowed through the veins of the entire race – bred in, trained in from an early age and reaching its flower in this moment. 

Ilana the Silver Nid-hi was contemplating in a balancing meditation before she was to join her Deity in the accomplishment of the grand destiny of Order. Not a time for doubt. 

"Jihad," she said, tasting the unfamiliar word in her mouth. The Darkness Visible had spoken the word and explained its power. Holy War. A war fought by the righteous to cleanse corruption from existence. They of course were the righteous, which by definition made the despised Ninjetti the force of corruption. And yet … and yet ... the worm of doubt was wriggling in the fertile depths of her mind. 

A memory of waking, and he was there. The one whom she had tortured, he was there and there was no hatred in his eyes, only a questioning and fear of her. He could have slain her, weakened as she was after the joining with her Spider Spirit to channel that Power to the designs of the One. But he hadn't, had he? For a moment, it had seemed … seemed that he wanted to talk. Where had been the Evil? The Chaos that was meant to mark them with its taint? 

She shuddered. Deception. Illusion. The One had said they twisted thoughts to encourage chaos in the mind of the righteous. Certainly there was confusion in her thoughts after she had been in contact with him. Even now her usual incomparable focus was destroyed by those gentle eyes. She could not head **in**to battle until her thoughts were clean and sharp, focussed like a knife willing to strike without hesitation. 

And yet … Order was Reason and he had seemed reasonable. He had seemed to hold in him the qualities of a Nid-hi. 

No! Blasphemy! 

Deep inside the suspicion that their mortal enemies might not necessarily be evil rocked the foundations of her mind and she retreated in fear from her own thoughts. No … this indecision was THEIR work. The One had Chosen the Nid-hi from their dying world when they had been little more than a child race. He hadsheltered them, fed them, was their future and had promised them the fulfilment of their greatest need when they succeeded. A Home … a Home. For a space- born race they had been taught that they suffered the Darkness because they were destined to rule the Light in the name of Order. And so it had seemed as they conquered world after world, the order trained into their very selves making them adept at the power of Order, of the spirit of which the Ninjetti wielded a perverted corruption. That in itself showed that the realms of Spirit, that the universe itself supported their quest. And when the One retrieved the Orb of Order from the despised Ninjetti, then they would be elevated to their rightful destiny! Yes! 

Amethyst highlights glinting in her liquid eyes, Ilana rose, her mind locked and purposeful. She would not abandon the purpose to which she had dedicated her life because of the look in the eyes of a creature of Chaos. 

_"No. The Jihad will come, and the righteous will win" _she thought as she turned and walked to the command bridge of the fleet, committed now to her chosen path.   
  
  


*** 

  
  


"Mr President, you are missing the point." Jason's voice cut through the tirade of bluster and indignity, projecting perfectly from his Ninjetti Spirit Warrior-armoured helmet. "Yes, there is an alien attack. No, it's NOT us … This is the attack we face." He showed the transmitted images up on one of the conference walls of the approaching invading Armada. 

"Do you have ANY idea of the ramifications of what you are proposing?" The President of the United States blustered, trying to claw back a semblance of control and dignity. 

"If you can indeed do what you claim you are going to do." One of the Middle Eastern Leaders said sourly, obviously sceptical. 

"We are well aware of what this will mean," Trini said calmly. "And we have the capability to do this. We do not have the time or energy for wasteful posturing." There was a smooth criticism in her phrase. Jason had not been the only one to be annoyed by politics and bureaucracy at the Peace Conference. 

"Absolutely unconscionable!" the Prime Minister of India said, clenching her hands more in fear than anything else. They had not long become a nuclear nation and now it was going to be stripped away! 

"I suspect that you do not appreciate the gravity of this attack," Delphine soothed from behind her Ninjetti garb. The alien appearance of the Aquitians might be too much for them to deal with at this point in time 

"I suspect, Miss, that you do not appreciate the impact of your actions on our countries!" she retorted. The murmur of agreement became a babble of confused and outraged sentiment, the world's leaders ironically perfectly in accord over the one thing they had never been able to agree upon before. 

Jason lost his temper. In a deliberate, controlled and overall diplomatic fashion. His gauntleted fist slammed on the table, cutting through the chaos and noise. 

"Quiet!" he bellowed in the tone that had made his Ranger teams jump to attention for so many years. It seemed to work. 

"You all fail to grasp the point of this meeting. This is not a meeting to REQUEST whether we can do this; it is a meeting to ADVISE you what we are doing! " Jason said forcefully, his tone uncompromising. "We are taking your nuclear capability in a desperate attempt to save the Earth. Frankly, if there is anything left of your nations after this conflict, then you can lodge a complaint against us." His voice carried an unmistakable sarcastic edge that berated these adults for being petty in the face of overwhelming danger. 

"Think about it as an opportunity," Zack interjected smoothly. "Under what other circumstances would you have the possibility of starting on an equal footing, and not dealing down the barrel of a gun? And, guys …" the familiarity slipped out as Zack's particular skill in diplomacy came into play, that of drawing everyone into a 'circle of friends' whether it existed or not before his intervention, "You've got to work together. We've been caught on the hop, we are outnumbered and outgunned, and we are going to need all the help we can get. This will mean from the Earth itself. I'd like to be confident enough to say the fight will never make it here … but man, those Nid-hi are tough." There was the impression of a smile in his voice, though his helmet masked his expression. "But then so are we!" 

"It would be recommended that you put your military forces on alert," Trini interjected smoothly, providing the calming, familiar restrained diplomacy they were more familiar with and using it to settle them down a little, "… and take whatever provisions you, as leaders of your respective countries, deem necessary to protect your nations' people." 

Assaulted from all sides, the various leaders were almost stunned into silence. Jason looked at them all and sighed inwardly. Well, they could not afford more time arguing a foregone conclusion. 

"I thank you for you co-operation," Jason announced, aware of the irony. "We must get ready for the forthcoming conflict. You will be returned to where you were taken from and I hope you will take heed of our warnings. Good luck." He finished abruptly and signalled Cestro who teleported them away mid-protest. 

Jason sat down slowly, un-helmeting himself and sighed in an exhalation of frustration and anxiety. "Well, that went well," he said wryly. 

"Man, I'm not going to even consider how many acts of high treason you managed there," Zack joked, waggling a reproving finger at the Red Lion Ninjetti. "I can't think of anyone who has managed to upset quite so many important people all at once." 

"Zack … don't tease him." Trini placed a gentle hand on Jason's muscular shoulder, recognising that subtle tension of unease and distress that showed in his posture. "You did well. They will listen – and frankly, they have no choice." 

"Yeah … and that's what makes it stink, you know?" Jason replied fatalistically. He stared at the inexorably moving images on the view screen as they hypnotised him with their sheer numbers and threatening form. "If they'd given them up of their own accord, then they really would be gone. This way they'll all be sneaking around, trying to build them back up and get the jump on the others …" 

"If they survive," J'shaar pointed out helpfully, which just made the Red Lion Ninjetti wince. 

"Yeah … I guess." Jason looked up again and then sighed. "Human nature … what a marvellous thing. Fight to live, and then if they win, start planning how to die." He was definitely getting a case of the pre-battle blues. He touched a hand to his spirit crystal and thought at Billy. 

"_Billy? You might as well go ahead … they aren't happy, but … frankly, I told them they would have to live with it._" 

_"Thanks, Jase,"_ Billy responded, catching a little of the flavour of the emotion-tinged thoughts_._

_"It will be all right, Jase,_" he sent quietly with as much reassurance as he could muster. "_It's the right thing to do."_

He hoped.   
  
  


*** 

  
  


In amongst the frantic preparation Billy found time for a drink and sat staring once more at the transcript of the Prophecy they had heard on Triforia. Behind him part of his more underhanded battle surprises downloaded instructions secretly to the fleet, surprises he had not mentioned to anyone, mindful of the Phantom Ranger's adamant assertion of a traitor in their midst. What a horrible sour thing it was to suspect one of your own! The Wolf part of him recoiled from the thought. Pack was Pack, and it was against every spirit instinct he was imbued with to distrust the Pack. That made it more difficult, but his human spirit knew all to well what those who fancied themselves 'higher' than animals could and would do to further their own ends; including betrayal. Even this exercise of studying the Triforian Prophecy was an effort to somehow unravel the binding threads of their apparent doom. Since they had learnt that the Prophecies had been an explicit attempt by the first Master Ninjetti Bar'ak to pass on information, Billy had become more convinced that there were answers there ... or at the very least the questions that needed to be asked. 

_"The Sun goes Down … Beware the Darkness Visible". _Well, that made more sense now. After their brief encounter, he could see why the entity had been named the Darkness Visible, as that is what it had done and had been itspowerful weapon. Made their fears, negative emotions visible to them in its amorphous form and then gave them a reality of their own as it turned it loose. Was that a limited ability? Possibly … but they had hurt it … with Ninjetti power. If it could be hurt it could be beaten, he had to keep telling himself that. 

_"In that Darkness no Light exists, but it is swallowed by Darkness. Yea, even that of the Shahin Tara Zed,"_ he read aloud. His wolf-spirit rumbled within him at the stirring of denial that came when he contemplated the thought that his friend had a death and defeat written throughout the ages, echoed by wielders of the Power from across the Galaxy. 

"That has to be about Skye," he said, maintaining a level tone. "And the fact that even if he wins or loses, he will not survive." Even to himself the statement sounded brittle with anger. 

_"It is his destiny to face the darkness."_ The wolfspirit spoke up. 

"Don't you start. All the mentors can say is how it's his destiny to die and they are so accepting of it that they don't even attempt to question to see if it could be another way," Billy replied acerbically. "There has to be a way to save him!" 

_"You named him Phoenix."_

The wolfspirit reminded him of the subtle hope he had invested in his choice, knowing even then that Skye had believed he would not live, even before the Council of the Wise shared their utter certainty of the artist's role. To them he was a tool, a weapon. When he made his final decision on Phaedos to become the Ninjettis' weapon, it was as if that final transformation had rendered him with as much soul as a sword or an arrow in the mentors' eyes. Trini had said that it was something to do with the fact he could not choose any more, that even the smallest particle of life had choice inherent in its being. Skye, as of the moment they were joined, did not. He lived because according to the Great Power, Billy's Will dictated it, not because he had a choice and for Billy that was a responsibility that he was not sure he could bear. 

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hadn't tried everything I could, not just for him, but for everyone," Billy said wearily. In a peculiar way he felt responsible for this conflict, even though logically he knew he was being swept along on a tide of events. "And there is always more I can do or could have done." The very air around him seemed heavy at that moment as he read on, trying to wish the responsibilities away. 

_"The threat is more than that which threatens the Light alone - All is threatened in the Fall of Darkness_." Billy shivered as if a shadow had passed across him as he had described. "See now, that almost blatantly says 'do not assume you know what is going to happen'. Hmmm, obviously we are the Light, colours are a property of light after all, so if it is not just us that is threatened, then how much does ALL actually mean? Everything?" He shook his head at the ambiguousness of the phrase, skipping a little in his haste to find clues. 

_"Beware the Shadows in the Darkness. They will strike from within the Light, they will strike from within the Night, in ways unlooked for, for their Mind is not as it seems._" That brought an unwelcome conclusion. "Phantom is right, we do have a traitor … but who? One reason why the Ferian X shipment was a secret even from them, and the nuclear strike." Billy groaned. So complicated! 

So much had come to rest on him because of this suspicion, because he did not know if he could trust anyone. He HATED that. He had been through that stage in his life and wanted no more of it, gnawing away at him, constantly on guard. "Is he right that it is a mentor? Or one of the Ninjetti?" 

_"Examining what they hope to gain may give an answer,"_ his wolfspirit said quietly, offering counsel, not answers. 

"They have all the information … save Dulcea's, and that is meant to point to the specific location of the Orb of Order … aside from the fact it is as cryptic as Zordon on a bad day having a Dimitria moment. Hmmm, maybe there is still reason for the Darkness Visible to want to have a traitor on the inside." Great, just what we need ... watching our own backs when going off to face overwhelming odds. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti sighed and skipped over the transcript a little more. 

_"Spirit Warrior of the Wolf, seek your destiny within the lonely choice and decision upon which all else rests…_" Billy practically snarled at the paper, allowing himself a moment of anger. "Why me?" 

_"Is there anyone else you would trust with this?"_ the wolfspirit said softly. 

Billy opened his mouth to speak and then hesitated. _"That is an evil thing to say,"_ he replied eventually, desperately WANTING to say no, finding himself unable to do so. 

_"But nevertheless true,"_ the wolfspirit answered. 

_"Well, whether I am the best choice or not, it's too late to bring in a substitute, I guess."_ Billy straightened his shoulders with a deep breath as he agonised over the most crucial part of the Prophecy. 

_"Know that in the ambiguity of Prophecy and Destiny lies salvation, for Words cannot be unsaid. Know that the Words of Prophecy have Power, but their final Power is in how they are read, not in the Word itself_." He read it aloud again, as he had done over and over since he had heard the words spoken by the Aspect of Vision on Triforia. Even at the time he had felt some deeply personal meaning and message buried in those words. Ambiguity of words ... of course there were ways in which the phrases could be interpreted, but it was basically saying there had been a major error of assumption. What was the point of a Prophecy if no one could understand the damn thing until it was to late? 

Billy chewed on the pen lid until the realisation hit him. Only one person was meant to understand the Prophecy, and with traitors in their midst then the crypticness was justified. But who was to say he was the one who was meant to interpret it all? 

On the other hand … could he assume that he was NOT the one? He had too little time to pursue all options, and come what may, he HAD to see Trini before they went to War. 

The download link bleeped, confirming its task was complete, signalling his time of contemplation was at an end. With a frown he stood up and remote-accessed WolfZord as the dip in the lights showed that the threatened disarmament had taken place. 

"A farewell to arms," he said imagining the havoc he had instigated. "Pup, Cub – initiate a computer search in WolfZord across all known language databases for key words in the Prophecy." It would be a few hours before he started getting results, but there was nothing else he could think of doing. 

"Initiated," came Pup's slightly deeper version of his own voice. It was strange that the little droids should have developed such a sense of individuality, but it appeared that each Zeebeedee had its own quirks. "WolfZord battle-ready." 

"Thank you," Billy said automatically. "I'll be there soon. I just have to ... check on things first." 

Like his decision to leave Justin alone with a nuclear arsenal.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  


If Billy was to worry about anything, it was the way that Justin had taken to appropriating the thermonuclear warheads with the glee of a six-year-old unwrapping Christmas presents. 

"Wow … who would have though so many countries had them?" he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "And so many, too!" 

Mrs DeSantos gave him a quelling look. "I'm sure it's not healthy for a young man like yourself to be collecting … nuclear missiles," she said disapprovingly. Hank Cranston chuckled behind her. 

The formidable woman turned. "Stop encouraging him! It's your son giving him a bad role model." 

"And your son, too," Hank pointed out. 

"Rocky never got involved with all this … science!" she denied, fighting her corner more to distract people from their nerves and tension than fromany real belief in what she was saying. 

Justin chortled next to her and earned himself another Look. "Enough of the playing with the nuclear arsenal, young man. If they have to be moved, then move them promptly and properly." She sniffed and Rocky, who had just stepped in, groaned and rolled his eyes and tried to back out of the door, a move thwarted by Kim and Tommy coming in behind him. 

"Rockwell!" Lillian summoned him imperiously from where she was trying to watch over Justin. "Where have you been?" 

"Er," Rocky swallowed, "With Kat, Mama, getting ready for battle." He had the grace to flush a little red as he said this. 

Behind him he had the sniggering version of "Love is a battlefield" whistled nonchalantly by Tommy, accompanied by Kim's giggles before he coloured up completely. "Quit it, guys!" he hissed. 

"Especially as I am sure that they have been as conscientious about preparing for battle as you have," Sam Trueheart said with a knowing smile, causing Tommy to swallow his teasing mid-whistle. 

Oblivious to the banter going on, Billy strode in, looking at a piece of paper, apologising automatically as he bumped into those loitering in the doorway. 

"Sorry … sorry … " he mumbled and looked up at the screens. "Justin, how are we doing?" he asked, blind to anything except the problem in front of him. 

"Got most of 'em," Justin replied enthusiastically. "Where would you like them?" 

"Here …" Billy tapped his makeshift astronomical map littered with very cursory notations. It was all he had had time to do, but he was counting on Justin's agile mind to fill in the gaps. "The moons will make a good staging ground. The critical step will be luring them close enough." 

"I think we can handle that," Tommy said, more confidently now he could see what the shape of the plan was going to be in principle. "No problems, Billy." 

"Good ... good. Look Justin, can you handle this?" the Blue Wolf Ninjetti asked, worried, fiddling with his sandy blond hair awkwardly. "I … I have to see Trini before this all starts." He just hoped no one would ask why as he was already feeling guilty about the time he was taking out of preparation to indulge a selfish need. 

Fortunately no one had the tactlessness to question him on his motives as it was obvious that all participants in the battle to come had found some time to be with those they loved, even if it were stolen moments plucked from the stress and strain of the past few days. 

They would not begrudge Billy that right for all their need of his expertise. To deny him what might be a last time face to face with the one he loved because he was seemingly indispensable would have been criminal. They were all aware of that constant terrifying possibility; though they laughed and joked around it, it flickered often beneath the surface of their thoughts, an ever present will o'the wisp of speculation luring them into dark dangerous realms of consideration. 

"It's no problem, Billy," Justin said confidently and generously. "I've got it covered, they'll all be set up in time." Even if he had to bust a gut to do it, he would get it done without bothering the other Ninjetti. He felt he owed him that much for the trust that the older blue ranger had placed in him. 

"Thanks, Justin," Billy said, not aware how much relief showed in his voice at that response. It concerned Tommy at least, who was somewhat sensitive to the possibility of Billy being overstrained after what had happened. "If anyone needs me, I'll be at Trini's, okay?" he said as he hastily turned to leave. 

"Got it, yeah," Kim called back, trying to sound very relaxed and nonchalant as she watched their friend leave. 

"And if the Darkness Visible turns up itself in the middle of the Power Chamber asking for a cup of sugar, it will have to wait until that young man is done." Lillian DeSantos voiced the thoughts of the entire room in the moment of silence that followed his departure in a soft voice - a sentiment that everyone present echoed one way or another.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  


Trini had independently reached a similar decision to Billy's, but before she tracked him down she had made one short stop. She went to see Skye who had retreated into his own room, isolating himself for some reason as if by doing so he was sparing them some future pain even it they didn't know the truth of what the Council of the Wise had revealed to Billy. She had watched how he had casually, effortlessly visited all of his friends as if bidding them a farewell they would not hear until it was too late. Only she, Billy and the mentors knew why he was doing this and part of her railed at the injustice of a hope bought at the cost of someone's life. That was why it hurt to see him find a way to touch each one of them one last time and know what it meant to him, yet be unable to speak to tell the others to treasure that last moment. There was so much more certainty involved with him and that made it almost cruel to see the last farewell turned to laughter and deflected in self-defence to a lighter subject. 

She paused a moment, vowing not to draw away if it came to that, composing herself for their final meeting. A pang shot through her for all her control and she knew it would not have gone unnoticed by the sensitive Star Ninjetti. 

_"Come in, Trini,_" Skye told her mentally as her hand raised to knock on the door. 

She walked in silently, seeing him sitting cross-legged on the bed, reading a well-thumbed volume. One she recognised from their journey together in space as a familiar volume of poetry. 

"Kim's present to you?" she asked by way of breaking the silence and to compose herself after that momentary slip outside. 

The white-haired artist nodded, the star crystal embedded in his forehead glinting as he did so under the strands of hair pulled over it. 

"Yes." He smiled at her, knowing a little of why she had come from her emotions radiating despite her efforts at control and small talk. So close to her, her emotions felt practically tangible in their complexity and need. 

."Skye, I ..." Trini paused, finding it difficult to translate that mass of emotion into words. It defied description. There were some things words glorified, and others that they demeaned … and this was a time that she felt the latter applied. Sometimes words were not enough, though they were all she had. "I don't know what to say," she admitted finally. 

"It's alright, Trini," Skye replied softly, putting the book down with a marker in it as if intending to come back and finish what he was reading. "I can feel what you want to say. Guilt should not be a part of it." 

Trini sat beside him, trying to fight that desperate feeling of fear and loss. Guilt, guilt was most definitely a part because of what she would say to him now. 

"I don't want to lose you!" she said with a barely restrained intensity and then amended it to a more truthful version. 

"Either of you." She looked at him, damning herself for the command she knew he would see there. Once before he tooka promise, a command from words said in desperation and she hoped so much that he read the order that was between the lines of what she said aloud. A selfish, desperate order, but … 

He saw. He felt the need in her for a life to return to her and the faint wistful smile he gave her in response hurt her more than any righteous rebuff of her implicit command. "I love him too, Trini," he answered in a soft voice. 

"Send him back to me, Skye," Trini begged, dark eyes bright with tears as she hated herself for having to choose between them and being willing to ask one to sacrifice for the other. "Promise?" 

Skye felt an indefinable sensation within him, a tingle of the Star Crystal in his forehead. "I will do all within my power to protect him … that I promise." 

Trini nodded, swallowing painfully as they both stood and she embraced the artist, conveying her affection, compassion, regret, in that touch. 

Skye held her tightly and mentally whispered _"I love you …_" to her, but received nothing but silence and a gentle touch as she pulled away and departed, cursing herself for not being able to lie even now, when she knew he was likely to die. Maybe it was better he hated her for that choice and cared for Billy. Maybe it was easier to believe he hated her than believe he would do this out of love for her … 

The door closed again, sealing a bittersweet parting with a soft gentle whisper of noise. 

Skye stood a moment alone in the silence of his room once more, the lingering sensation of her touch and scent providing him with a little comfort in his isolation. That was probably the last time he would see her. Ever. This was how unrequited love was repaid, with sacrifice 

His eyes lighted on the transcript of the Prophecy he had studied and his mouth twisted in a bitter smile. 

"The choice of a divided heart," he murmured and then violently ripped up the transcript of the prophecy and threw it towards the bin before sitting with his head in his hands, tormented by hurt. Hidden anguish burned inside as he succumbed to unheroic thoughts and feelings of wanting to live and destiny be damned, whilst also knowing at the heart of it, a dark, pitiless heart, he had no choice any more. No choices any more. Having a destiny was a cruel slavery, but even true slaves were not expected to rejoice in their slavery and could weep for what they had lost unlike him. 

Weapons, after all, did not shed tears.   
  
  


*** 

  
  


"Why did we have to give the Darkness Visible OUR ultimate weapon?" Rita grumbled for the umpteenth time to Lord Zedd who was pacing up and down in front of Master Vile impatiently. 

"You were the one who wanted to get revenge on the Earth," Lord Zedd growled, his staff crackling with energy reflecting his anticipation. "That put us in the hidden fleet … besides, were you going to tell Dark Spectre and the Darkness Visible no?" he added acerbically. 

"A little late to object after your 'yes, oh great and powerful Darkness Visible, it would be an honour to be in the other fleet. Your wish is my command'," the witch mimicked spitefully. 

Master Vile frowned at them, his deformed visage even more unsightly than usual with disapproval. "You fail to see the advantage, as usual," he remonstrated with the bickering pair. Children … both of them! 

"There is an advantage in giving away our most powerful weapon that we have ever created? Something, which we plundered worlds for?" Lord Zedd snapped sarcastically. "Pardon me if I fail to see it leaping out at me." 

"That's because you are an idiot," Master Vile replied succinctly. "Firstly, the entirety of the Ninjetti defence is focused on what they believe to be the whole attack force of the Nid-hi. They do not even suspect there is another space fleet lurking half phased. By the time the phase gems burn out under the strain we will be within striking distance of Earth and the Ninjetti unable to stop us." 

Rita sulked. "Well, yes, I knew that." She said peevishly in her harsh voice. "Still doesn't seem like much. I'd like to know how that Silver Nid-hi found out how the phase gems worked and the Council of the Wise's little mining operation. I always thought that was only known by the Phantom Ranger. Still ... I still think we've got the raw end of the deal." 

"It isn't when you read between the lines," Master Vile said, happily toying with a crackle of energy in his hand, flicking it from finger to finger. "The Darkness Visible is after an object of immense power … and we get to try and find it first. Did you never wonder WHY such a miserable backwater planet was defended so heavily? We who are rulers of major portions of the galaxy always weredefeated over a world which we should have been able to tame in less than a standard day? Why Zordon of Eltar, First among the Council of the Wise, was posted there as Guardian? Because there was something worth his guardianship. Something connected to the legends of the Darkness Visible … hmm?" 

Rita's mouth dropped open. She was quick enough to make the connection – and mythical artefacts were her speciality, especially powerful artefacts. "The Orb of Order …" she said in a hushed tone. "The Orb is on Earth? And I did not sense it?" If it truly were as powerful as the legends of the Ninjetti described, those that had survived in scattered fragments, then surely she would have noticed it. But the legends said that Ba'rak had concealed it where none would find it, and it was presumed lost. 

"Maybe you did in your own way … maybe we all did. What took us there in the beginning?" Lord Zedd mused. "But it would be shielded, hidden. It's not meant to be found, ever … not just hidden for safe-keeping." 

"I could find it … I'm sure," Rita said confidently. "Just someone make sure Divatox and Scorpina stay out of this." 

"I've got them ready to wreak random chaos on the planet's surface." Master Vile laughed to himself. "We will get this Power ourselves … and then let's see who is in charge!"   
  
  


*** 

  
  


Ilana knelt before the Darkness Visible who coalesced in his glorious golden Nid-hi form on the bridge of their command vessel. 

"They plot against you, my Lord," she murmured. "I sense their traitorous feelings focused towards you. Those who have sworn to your cause and call themselves Allies." 

The Darkness Visible, indulging in an aura of subtle golden energy, smiled. "I am aware of this, my Silver Chosen. I would be foolish indeed to assume they followed the cause of Order rather than their own ends. As they intend to use me, so shall they discover I have used them." He dismissed her concerns casually. With the ability that he had to perceive the shape of the darkness within minds it was all too apparent what their intentions were in the long run. "Now it is time for action. Despatch our drone fleet. I wish to test the mettle of our opponents without undue waste of life and maximum damage as they have had little time to prepare since they received some ... faulty data." He chuckled to himself in a light melodic sound. 

Ilana bowed her head and stood to make his commands a reality, as was her Duty. 

"Study well their reactions, Ilana." The Darkness Visible said to her, his eyes of liquid gold finding her own amethyst gaze. "For I would not wish to lose my Chosen to such creatures of Chaos." 

She stared into those compelling eyes for a long moment before he broke their gaze and she stumbled, her heart beating faster than it had ever done in any battle as she went to do his bidding. She would fulfil the desires of her deity not because he commanded her, but because she loved him. Those eyes would haunt her through her dreams and with a bittersweet realisation she discovered there would be none of her own kind, no 'ordinary' Nid-hi that would ever come close to that connection. Until now, she had thought her adoration all one-sided, but that had been concern in his voice, had it not? 

Enlivened now with a hope that threatened to set her own heart afire, Ilana strode away purposefully to win this war for her beloved. 

Behind her as she departed, the Darkness Visible chuckled. "Nothing more dangerous than a woman in love," he murmured aloud and watched the scintilla of tiny fighters swarm out from the fleet towards the dim distant yellow sun.   
  
  


*** 

  
  


"How many of the others have done this, do you think?" Billy murmured as he lay with Trini in his arms. Finally. It seemed it had been a long time since they had been together, though in reality it had been a short period made long by being packed full of intense experiences. Trini had decided to make that the model for their stolen time together. The proximity of fear and battle served to heighten that need into a rather intense union, which all too soon had to dissolve as duty called again. But just a few minutes more … a few minutes just talking wouldn't hurt. 

"That's a little bit of a personal question," Trini replied, the sound of a smile colouring her voice. "All of them, I should think ... Zack and Aisha have been disappearing at regular intervals. From the smile on Tanya's face I'd say that dark frog Adam has been up to his old tricks … and most of the others have not even been sneaky about it. Following each other around, hand in hand … not even saying much, but …" The Golden Tiger Ninjetti swallowed as she curled in close. "Just … being together." 

"Except Skye," Billy murmured as he held her gently. 

"He has been to them all, Billy," Trini said. "To say ... goodbye, I think." 

The Blue Wolf Ninjetti closed his eyes a moment. "I won't let him die, Trini … not unless there is no other option." 

_"But I would … I would let him die for what I see is a good cause." _ Trini's thoughts accused her as she lay silent a moment. Maybe that was the point; maybe that was a part of what she had to do, to choose between them. But if Billy ever knew … 

"What's wrong, Trini-love?" Billy asked, concerned at the flicker of pain across her beautiful face. 

"I don't want to lose anyone," she said in a low voice, not adding the instinctive 'especially not you'. Billy did not need any more pressure; he was already under too much though he tried to hide it. If it were not for the support of his friends that fragile façade of competent calm would collapse under the strain. What he needed was rest, but there was no time for that now. Tommy, Jason, all of the Master Ninjetti bore the signs of barely hidden exhaustion riding on the edge, knowing that this was the end one way or another. 

Billy paused, wanting to reassure her with a lie, but he KNEW the odds did not favour their survival. Even if they won, a statistic as chilling and distant as the heart of a long-dead star in itself, the odds of everyone making it were literally astronomical. 

He settled on an ambiguous phrase. "We will do our best to protect each other," he murmured, knowing from the look in Trini's eyes that she could hear the unsaid meaning as if he had spoken mind to mind. 

_"Live in hope,"_ his wolf spirit replied. _"And live in strength of spirit."_

_"Scarcely a comfort, my friend," _Billy answered as he stroked Trini's fine silky hair. 

_"It is the only comfort we can ever have ... and more powerful than you can imagine, because hope dares the impossible to be real," _the wolfspirit mindspoke. 

Billy sighed mentally._ "There is a time and place for animal-spirit wisdom, you know."_

There was an impression of mild amusement._ "Yes, every time and every place. It is time to battle_." He was warned as the presence faded. 

With an internal groan and a last stolen kiss, Billy heard the communicators summon every Ninjetti to prepare for imminent action and paused only to look at Trini so intensely that it seemed he was trying to memorise her face forever. He gave a faint smile and touched her cheek. 

"Love you," he managed in an act that took more bravery than facing the conflict to come. 

And Trini this time could answer, the truth of her heart freeing her own matching declaration of love, where before a lie would not release them even to comfort a close friend. "Love you, Billy," she murmured and then, in perfect accord without saying any further words to each other, they got up, dressed and prepared to go to war.   
  
  
  


_***_

  
  


"Now?" Justin asked again, his finger hovering over the trigger button, practically twitching with the need to press. 

"Caution is advised," Cestro warned**.** "They must be fully within range of the missiles. They have primitive tracking mechanisms only." 

"Wait …" Tommy watched the main viewing screen carefully, frowning a little as he assessed the swarming ships dancing in intricate patterns from the massive Nid-hi mother ships. There was something a little odd here, like noticing music was just a tiny little bit out of tune; it tweaked at his attention. 

"God, look at the sheer amount of them!" Kat exclaimed, her blue eyes wide with shock. She was not the only one to be affected in that way, practically the entire Ninjetti force were confronting a similar reaction. 

Adam found himself wanting to back away from that sight. They did not fight on this scale. They were used to being outnumbered to a certain extent, but not like this! This was not a war, this was a last stand! They were fooling themselves to think otherwise. The fear uncoiled from the pit of his stomach as he watched the horror unravel in the distant void above. 

"You know … any moment I expect to see the camera change angle and a DeathStar hove into view," Rocky commented in the rather grim silence that had descended. 

"Rocky, that's not funny!" Kim said tersely, not in the mood for humour. Even her usually flippant responses were momentarily stripped from her thoughts. She was suddenly very aware that Tommy would be up there soon, playing decoy, and all her instincts clamoured for her to keep him safe. 

"I was being serious," the Red Ape Ninjetti replied in a rather subdued tone. 

"_Now?_" Justin asked again with more force, growing fear making his finger itch with the need to blast those things out of space. 

"Wait a moment." Tommy's frown deepened. "The formations are TOO precise." 

Delphine nodded, studying the data. "Even the best-drilled teams have a degree of variation in an attack formation. Those strike me as attack drones." 

"To soften us up, no doubt." Jason observed from where he stood with Dulcea, who nodded. 

"Strategically it is wise. Means you can see how organised the enemy is and how they react, weaknesses in their line," Rocky added as an afterthought, causing a few people to fix him with looks of astonishment. "What? You said I was meant to be in charge of communications and strategy … so I'm communicating and … er, strateg-ing." 

"It's a good point." Billy watched the exchange, a hint of a smile hovering around his lips. "Tommy, you think you can get an appropriately 'disorganised' group up there to mop up what the missiles fail to catch?" 

Tommy grinned. "I think we can make a convincing case of 'look how weak we are'. I'll just remember my first attempt to control the WhiteTiger Zord. See you out there, guys!" and he touched his communicator and teleported to the prepped and ready White FalconZord. 

"Optimum enemy range," Cestro pointed out, nodding at the screen. The drones were passing through the predicted course on a direct route to Earth traversing the channel within launching range of where they had positioned the nuclear missiles. 

_"Now?!"_ Justin asked a third and final time. 

"Now," they chorused and he stabbed at the button. Immediately targeting information flashed up on various screens, running through the computer and Justin rode and adjusted that information with the ease and confidence of someone who has played one too many computer games. 

Silent novae of light blossomed in space, short-lived deadly missile seeds, exploding into atomic fruition in a frenzy of energy, blotting out the enemy craft as if they had never been. Shockwaves could be seen rippling through the drone fleet, ripping formations apart as they watched in breathless silence. Destruction should not be this quiet, it called for roaring, crashing, huge sounds to mark its passing, but there was nothing save the mute explosions of light in the depths of space. 

Billy sighed to himself, even the filter-protected images burning bright in his mind. "That's it, we're committed now. Good luck, everyone," he said aloud, turning away from the viewscreen, whilst most of their parents stood agape and mesmerised by the images before them. 

It seemed all the more real when they used weapons they could understand the capabilities of, even if they were not cutting-edge technology in this new war. It was the adults who were the most pale and shaken, silently seeking reassurance in each other's expressions as their children continued to work. 

"Rocky, you take position in lunar orbit and then activate your full Master Power of communication," Billy reminded as he touched his Spirit crystal to invoke his Spirit Warrior armour. He looked around for Skye. He could feel him here somewhere, the moment the blue diamond Phoenix Glyph appeared on his armour it reached for his friend, imposing that bond. But once again, he was loitering out of sight, his emotions tightly drawn in and stretched tight over a wounded centre. It made him wonder if that was how Skye had first sensed him when they first met. When they were in the WolfZord together they would talk, he promised himself that. 

"HomeGuard with me." Jason called out to those who were providing an inner ring of defence for Earth itself, breaking Billy's brief reverie. 

"Billy ..." Hank called out, stepping forward as they reached to teleport. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti paused, looking up into his father's eyes and wordlessly joined the proud embrace. Neither one said anything, for fear that somehow words would call forth disaster or tempt fate. They did not need to say anything, everything was in that single moment and as Billy reluctantly pulled away, he realised that other parents had followed his father's example. He just hoped that none of those hugs would be of farewell, daring the impossible to be real. The only one actually ready to leave when he stepped back was Skye, hair a white splash against the dark greys he had chosen to wear, marking him out amongst the dazzling rainbow array of Ninjetti Spirit Warriors. He was ready possibly only because he had no one to bid him farewell, Billy considered, studying him in the light of contrast. Never before had that lack been so poignant, and for that final moment Billy realised that though he had lost his mother, he still had a family in his father, something that he appreciated now like atno other time. Still, this was not time to drift into thoughts however deep and personal; they had to focus on the task ahead. 

There was a brief pause as the visages of the Mentors appeared on the screens around them and he heard the traditional benediction over the buzz of his own busy thoughts. 

"May the Power protect you!" 

And his wolf spirit added silently, in an unusually sombre tone, _"And may you protect the Power."_

With that rather ringing in his mind, Billy took a deep breath and nodded to Skye. In streaks of blue and white crackles of light, the pair of them teleported to WolfZord and the final Battle.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Rocky deftly manoeuvred Red ApeZord into position as on either side of him uncountable Ninjetti Zords streamed out from their adapted lunar base. 

"God." Rocky watched them a moment as he manoeuvred into his prearranged orbit. He closed his eyes an instant, smiling at the fact that it was Kat's face that leapt to mind as his focus for calm. He wanted to be out there, fighting, defending her. That was a primal instinct, and had no place in this sort of conflict. They could not afford to play the Warrior, not all of them out for personal glory, or fighting only for themselves. He had done research on this since he had been nominated as the logistics and strategic liaison and he realised the truth in what Billy and Jason had said. Time and time again superior communication and co-ordination had tipped the tide of battle. So … what did he want? He wanted everyone to be able to communicate with the other Ninjetti, he wanted focus points and he needed to be able to see and know what was happening with them at all times. Think of the need and then command the Master Power, the Mentors had said; the rest would take care of itself. He really hoped that was the case, or his Master Power would be no use to anyone. 

"Here we go. Master Ninjetti Power Ansur!" Rocky called out aloud and touched the gleaming red glyph on his armour. A shock of Power in his mind sent him metaphorically spinning as contact, like a linking web, spread through the Ninjetti force, bringing speech without effort, and more than speech, mind-presence. All at once! No! He clutched his head and immediately tried to distance himself from it, shrinking away. 

_"Think of what you do when all the little ones are fighting at home, tune them out ... tune it out so it is still happening, but you are not specifically listening unless you choose to,"_ his apespirit advised him. 

"Bloody hell." Rocky panted, sweat on his brow as he got things back under control. He could feel and see the arena of space where the conflict was going to take place, his limits defined by the extent of the farthest-flung Ninjetti. Now he had achieved his link it was like hovering above a massive map and seeing the tiny fighters move. 

_"Communications up, Radio RedApe Ninjetti on the air!"_ he announced across the mental link and heard with clarity the response echoing back to him, and to each other as if he actually WAS a satellite – and a totally secure communications point at that, which in a war was a major advantage. 

"Good work!" Tommy broadcast, discovering that by willing who the communication should go to defined its range, from public to private. "We are doing a very convincing ragtag mop-up." Indeed, with a carefully controlled, rough-around-the-edges formation they had played an equivalent of inexpert space invaders against the drone ships. One by one they hadtaken out until the swarming force vanished into glittering space débris. Only to be replaced by more attackers, this time showing an indefinable sense of independent minds piloting them. 

"First wave of real fighters just being launched. I need our defenders moved up to Jupiter. Squadron 10 through to 20, hold back in reserve to be called in once we test their mettle. Take care out there, guys." Tommy's voice echoed over the entire fleet and the Ninjetti Zords coiled to strike.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Ilana watched the readouts on the data being gathered from the token conflict. "Either they are very unprepared, or they are more full of guile than we give them credit for ..." she murmured as she watched the handful of zords scramble around seemingly without coherence or pattern to despatch the drones. The missiles had been a surprise, they would not have penetrated the shields of the main fleet, but against simple drones they were adequate. 

Deliberate or not? The data showed most of them had not been designed for space deployment … hmmm … 

Getha, a grizzled Nid-hi warrior, his horns lined with numerous shedding-rings that bespoke his age and experience, snorted. "They are creatures of Chaos. One would expect that to be reflected in their battle technique." 

"Maybe." Ilana the Silver Nid-hi frowned, remembering the Wolf Ninjetti and the intelligence in his alien eyes. She hesitated to give the order for an all-out assault, but had no other reason than a half-formed feeling. 

Getha frowned. "Why do you not give the order?" he questioned impatiently. "The despised Ninjetti are in chaos. Strike now before we lose the advantage!" 

"Patience. The hidden fleet is a few hours from position." Ilana raised a hand to placate the warrior. 

"In a few hours they will have organised into formations!" Getha gestured to the screen. "I can take them out with my Legion alone!" He did not think it was an idle boast. There were four Legions of the Nid-hi and he had command of what he privately thought of as the most battle- seasoned. "Join me!" 

"You know I do not have jurisdiction of your Legion. Lead them if you will. If you are correct I will sing of your Glory to the One myself and you shall be exalted above all others." 

"I will hold you to that promise." The grizzled warrior Nid-hi bowed his head to her and strode from the Command Bridge to launch Getha's Legion to glory.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


WolfZord hovered just outside Earth orbit, in the ranks of the HomeGuard. 

"Rocky's Master Power seems to be doing the trick," Skye said, looking across at Billy who was chewing on his lip thoughtfully, studying data analysis. 

"Mmm yes …" Billy looked across at him, his thoughts and feelings jumbling together now action had begun. Trini was out there in the front line, as one of the most seasoned Zord fighters and already in the line of fire. "Better than I expected." 

"Relax. Trini is fine," Skye reassured, divining part of his friend's anxiety. 

"I hate not being able to fight with her," Billy admitted, drumming his fingers anxiously. "And I mean that as not actually with her, but by her side." 

"Well, I think with the battle experience she has there is no need to be concerned on her behalf," Skye said carefully, trying not to leak emotions that lingered from his last meeting with Trini. 

"Yeah, I know she can take care of herself, but ..." Billy paused, feeling something through that bond that he was unable to identify though he gave Skye a piercing look as he continued. "But I think Phantom may have been right." 

The data had been altered, the results had shown that once he had started digging – and there were not many with the expertise to tamper with the database without triggering an alert. That was why he had underestimated the Enemy fleet's arrival time, not through miscalculation, though even so he now berated himself for not spotting the devious alterations beforehand. 

"A traitor?" Skye sat up, alert now. Phantom's accusations had proved groundless in their researches, though he knew Billy had privately taken some steps … just in case. The odds were stacked enough against them without having to worry about it coming from the inside too, not now! 

"The data on the Darkness Visible's arrival time was tampered with," the Blue Wolf Ninjetti said, having located the nearly invisible computer trail. "I did an in-depth analysis on it because I wanted to see how I could have made such an error, only to discover the original data had been tweaked. " Billy flashed up the result for Skye to check. "Plus of course that line in the Prophecy." 

"But who?" The Star Phoenix Ninjetti asked, shaking his head slightly, unable to believe it though now he could see clearly the manipulation of crucial information. 

"Realistically? Could be any of the mentors, save perhaps Dulcea. The Darkness Visible had them a long time and managed to extract information out of them," Billy said, shying away from his own memories of a similar procedure, knowing full well that if Skye hadn't hadgot him out they could have done anything to his mind once it was that broken. It haunted him occasionally that maybe his memories were false of that time and perhaps they HAD done something that would cause him to fail in the crucial moments. 

"Who knows what else may have been done? They may not even realise it." He sighed. "We NEED to make sure that the Darkness Visible does not get its hands on the Orb of Order – that's what I should be working on." 

"So what do we have to go on?" Skye asked attentively, aware that battle was about to commence. 

"Only Dulcea's cryptic clue and the Prophecy. _"And it shall be hidden in the place where none shall look, but without it none shall see to seek."_ Billy practically growled under his breath. "This is one time I could really do without cryptic utterances and just a pointer saying 'over here'!" 

"So we solve the puzzle," Skye began, trying to inject a note of optimism into his voice. 

"Or circumvent it," Billy finished, emphasising his point by jabbing at the keyboard he had linked to the computer system through Wolf Zord. 

"If this thing is aspowerful a manipulator of reality as Zordon said, then I should be able to devise a means of tracking concentrations of reality. I might as well … whilst we are not in front line action." The last was said a little bitterly even though it had been his idea to preserve the WolfZord and Skye behind the lines. It made sound tactical sense, but it didn't mean he had to like it. 

All this flowed through to Skye who busied himself with implementing some of the instructions that Billy was mentally marshalling for action beneath his worry for his friends and relatives. Including worry for him. 

He was human enough still despite the Council of the Wise's assertion he was a weapon, to warm to that emotion and to feel a measure of guilt at being a source of stress to his friend. 

_"I'm fine Billy, you don't have to worry about me." _He tried to reassure in a gap in their working. 

Billy looked at him_. "I may not be as sensitive to emotion as you are, but you know this ... connection allows me to read you deeper than before. Don't pretend it is nothing, Skye."_

_"It is ... bearable,"_ Skye said, unable to lie at this level of contact. This was more than talking through the spirit crystals, this was having someone as part of you, strangely discomfiting and painful, but also welcome to the lonely isolated heart that gripped the bond as a lifeline. 

_"I stand by my promise,"_ Billy reassured him. _"I will find a way, if I can."_

_"And if you can't?"_ Skye's voice was a murmur, clinging like a small child to Billy's mind. 

_"Then I promise."_ God, this was hard. _"Then I promise you will be used as the mentors say is your destiny."_ It caused him pain to utter it, but he realised it had to be said for both their peace of mind. If it did happen and he had not felt the forgiveness and ... more in Skye's mind at this moment, he would not be able to live with his own conscience. 

_"Thankyou" _was said by both at the same time, in recognition for what each other was sacrificing so they could go on and play their part in this war. For once Billy held his friend's gaze a long time and in a rare gesture of voluntary contact touched the artist's hand before silently turning back to his work as if this most private exchange had never occurred.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Tommy paused. "Nid-hi ships," he said aloud to himself as the sleek needlecraft slid through space to reach them. A large number, but he did not fool himself by believing they were the full capability of the Enemy fleet, not with the quantity of carrier battle ships his instruments were reporting. Still, maybe after their lightning raids on the homeworlds of the Council of the Wise, resulting in the mentors' abductions, they believed there would not be significant resistance. He intended to prove that assumption wrong. They had few warriors maybe, but they were fighting for their freedom and homes – and they had enhanced Ninjetti Zords and powers. He was hoping THAT would tip the balance, though he had that beginning of a battle headache, from wearing his neck tensed with anxiety and suspense. It was here and now he realised how much he missed having Kim there with him, and yet at the same time was grateful she was not in their front line, but instead on HomeGuard. But now he had to be fully focussed, now that the enemy was coming within range. A familiar keening thrill rose through him as FalconZord seemed to twitch, eager for battle and the old instincts awoke, stirred by adrenalin as he began to relay orders swiftly to all the squadrons of Ninjetti. Like they had when battling monsters back on Earth, it was a matter of scaling the tactics up; attack and peel off, clearing room for others to engage and then disengage as they did their own form of analysis of the enemy's weaknesses. 

_"Ninjetti Spirit Warriors … Engage Enemy Ships!"_ he called out through the link, hearing it reverberate through their own fleet and with a whooping battlecry spun White FalconZord against the Nid-hi legion, followed by a legion of his own. 

From Rocky's perspective it looked like someone had smashed two mirrors standing opposite one another and the slivers were mingling at the point where someone had set off a brilliant display of fireworks. Rocky blinked, as he became aware of the battle communications flowing through him, all at once. 

_"Gold Tiger, check your six … Nid-hi comin' in!"_

_"Check that, Yellow Bear ... thanks, Aisha!"_ Trini's voice replied. 

_"No problem ... whoa!"_

_"Aisha?!"_

Rocky's heart seemed to stop. 

_"Got a little toasted. Heavy duty fire power in the ships with red markings."_ Aisha's slightly shaken tone was more telling than her words. _"Guessing they are squadron leaders or have some rank."_

Rocky duly passed this information along to the rest of the Ninjetti fleet. That made him feel a little more useful than just sitting here as messagesbounced through him. Gradually he began to get an idea of what the Master Power could actually do. He could see and feel patterns of attack that those fighting could not perceive from their scale and he urgently shouted a warning to one squadron that had been lured out and were being ambushed. _"Green Kithar! Red Maronal! Ambush! Slide left! LEFT!"_

A series of explosions sounded in his mind and he thumped the console, as there was a sudden hole in his mind where their presence had been. Their first fatalities as the trapped Ninjetti tried to follow his advice … a fraction too late. 

"Dammit!" No time for self-recriminations now, he had to make sure that they lost as few as possible. 

_"Man, but these guys are fast … and slippery."_ Tommy twisted FalconZord in a barrel roll, coming out of it to swoop down and scatter a cluster of Nid-hi. Subtly though he made it appear, they were giving ground, not too easily but drawing them back towards where the other squadrons lay in ambush. Rocky continually passed on their relative positions and what it actually looked like to him. Technically he could have called the figure up through the FalconZord, but that objective viewpoint was invaluable. 

_"Just a little more, Tommy,_" Rocky sounded in his mind. "_Reports in from Tanya that there appears to be a gold-tip craft surrounded by a formation of the red tips. I'd wager a week's supply of Jolt that that is their tactical leader. Shri squadron closing in … and …"_ there was a pause in the commentary and Rocky's voice became angry_. "They wiped them out … completely. Made it look easy. Whoever these guys are, they are experienced."_

_"Who've we got over there in the realm of heavy hitters?"_ Tommy replied, thinking furiously as FalconZord locked wings forward and caused heavy damage to a formation that was threatening their line from its wing missiles. 

_"Dulcea's closest. She's been leading the Drakin contingent. Boy, those lizards can kick tail,"_ Rocky commented admiringly as information flooded his mind as he reached for it. 

_"Get her over there ... if anyone can take out their leader, it will be her,"_ Tommy ordered after a moment's consideration. 

There was a moment's surprise. _"Right … passing it along … er ..."_ Rocky hesitated, _"You not doing it yourself?"_

_"Not this time, Rocko,"_ Tommy replied, mildly amused. They were all full of surprises in this unique situation. If Dulcea was the best for the job, then though he dearly would have loved to score that type of victory, he had no business trying. There was something to be said for growing a bit older, including a dawning common sense. _"Plenty to go around for everyone. Squadrons 10 to 20, engage Enemy!"_

The reinforcements streamed out from their ambush points, overwhelming the flank of the Nid-hi Legion as the fresh troops hit them hard, breaking their formations and scattering them in surprise. 

_"Wooooohoo!" _That was Jason observing from the inner line._ "Go get them, Tommy!"_ He resisted the urge to punch at the air. They COULD beat them! They could! 

Dulcea was not sharing that confidence. "This Warrior is good," she murmured as she tackled the gold-tipped fighter. The Drakin Ninjetti around her were dancing their own intricate battles of death. A small localised sphere of chaotic movement blossomed around them all as they sought to dominate the other side, weapons blazing. 

The First Warrior of Phaedos had eyes only for the gold-tipped craft, moving with it, against it, learning her opponent's moves and techniques, like knife-fighters circling each other in the dust. But their arena was space, their weapons Zords and they sparred, both of them old pros at this dance of death. 

_"The Owl watches," _she murmured to herself. _"And then … strikes!"_ Like the bird of prey that had claimed her as its own, when she struck against the Nid-hi Warrior it was with sure, silence grace. 

Even so, Getha nearly surprised her for all her millennia of experience, by striking at her like a snake in the midst of her devastating attack, piercing OwlZord's hull with simulated fangs. 

She resisted the instinct to roll them belly up; knowing somehow that would be the trap laid for the unwary. Instead, she acted as if she were going to and at the last moment swung back, exposing the gold-tipped craft to the awaiting fire. The OwlZord rocked as she felt, sensed, the craft explode next to her and she spun a little dazed out of the circle of combat. 

It was just as well that the remaining Nid-hi were so filled with chagrin at the defeat of their Legion leader that they did not take advantage of Dulcea's weakness in those unguarded moments. Indeed, without orders to follow their formations seemed to unravel rather rapidly to the ferocious satisfaction of the Drakin Ninjetti. 

Dulcea looked at the spinning debris of defeated foe with a curious emotion of regret. She should have been elated, perhaps counting up points and weighing the glory of her actions, but that all seemed empty. She found there was no joy in defeating even their most long-term hereditary enemy, and to her the taste of her victory was bitter. She found she could have respected her enemy, for his courage, daring and skill. 

_"And an Enemy that you can respect is worthy of being a friend." _She murmured to herself in the old Ninjetti saying as the cheers and congratulations through the link were hollow praise indeed.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Hours this first assault had taken and Tommy felt stiff with stress and tension. The enemy appeared to be disheartened, more cautious since the destruction of their field commander by Dulcea. Which was a good thing on one level, but not on another. The White Falcon Master Ninjetti was well aware they had been lucky to get off so lightly, if you could call it that. 1123 Ninjetti had been lost in this first Battle, and nearly double the number taking severe damage. That was an expensive price to pay for the enemy's mistake. He began now to comprehend the scale of things and deep down it frightened him, but he would not let the fear rule him, not now. 

_"Pull back,"_ he ordered their fleet. _"Let's have some skirmishers harassing their fleet whilst we regroup. Billy, you sure the damaged Zords can be fixed quickly?"_

_"Affirmative." _Billy's voice was crystal clear in his mind, though the young genius sounded like he was busily doing something else as well. _"The Zeebeedees will have begun repairs the moment they were damaged. A couple of hours and most will be battleworthy again."_

_"Good."_ Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. If the drones were the equivalent of a putty attack, then this encounter had the feeling of their first skirmish with a monster. He didn't even want to think about the other equivalents. 

He discovered that Rocky had despatched some Ninjetti from the Moonbase to cover their tactical retreat and Tommy couldn't help but wonder if the Nid-hi and the Darkness Visible were going to follow up with a full attack. He looked at his hands shaking a little with fatigue and hoped not. 

_"Tommy?"_ Kim's voice whispered in his mind. 

_"Kim!"_ It was amazing how revitalising her voice was, some of that tension headache disappearing immediately. 

_"Shush … think ... private thoughts." _Kim's voice teased._ "I just want to check you were alright out there, you've been fighting for a long time."_

_"Fine,"_ Tommy responded automatically. 

_"Well, the HomeGuard is feeling pretty useless back here," _Kim said lightly, if truthfully._ "Not that we want to see action this close to home, but ... I want to be helping you, Tommy."_

_"I'd love to have you up here." _Tommy controlled a sigh._ "But if they break our line, then there has to be something there to slow them."_

Kim chuckled in a way that sent a warm sensation flowing through him and he found himself smiling as he headed back towards Earth and the Moonbase._ "We know … doesn't stop me wanting to be with you, though."_

_"Thankyou, love,"_ Tommy said, his faint smile growing as he imagined Kim hovering protectively in CraneZord over the skies of Earth. 

_"You think Rocky can transmit kisses?" _Kim asked lightly. 

_"I'm not sure I want to find out if he has to pass them on." _Tommy responded, finding optimism return with his good mood. What a difference a few words made – if they were from the right person even if it was the wrong time and place. 

Kim's laughter at that swept away his troubles even as the battle reports came in again, interrupting these precious moments.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Back in the Power Chamber there were more than one set of parents sitting down, looking slightly shaky at what they had witnessed. Time had seemed like an unending stream of explosions and reports, data that could mean life or death for their children flashing across screens. Around them the Mentors had been co-ordinating and advising, providing their knowledge in swift assessments of the ever-changing situation. As the death toll rose however, the strain became more apparent and more than one parent was looking haggard and drawn with reaction. 

"I … I can't believe it." Tommy's mother sat down heavily. "It's not real. Not real." 

Her husband sat with her, a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Now Mary, it's going to be fine. Trust me ... Tommy can take care of himself, you saw the way he handled himself up there." His expression and tone were of someone trying to convince themselves as much as someone else. 

"But what about the time when he NEARLY got ... blown up by all those … horrible ... black … crafts and ..." Mary Oliver paused, swallowing down the note of hysteria even SHE could hear creeping into her voice. "John, I can't stand the thought of him up there ... I can't!" 

"And to think we were disappointed when he didn't want to join the military, hmm?" John soothed his wife gently. 

"That ... that is completely different," Mary replied, wisps of dark brown hair escaping the clips she used to tie back her long locks. 

Sam and David looked on. "I know how she feels," David said quietly. "I want to be up there helping too … somehow." 

"You would not be alone in that desire," Sam Trueheart commented. "That is a wish written on the faces of all who are here." 

Very clearly written. Heads were turned, fixed on the monitors as if watching the images would somehow provide a link of safety. Even now with the first wave of the battle fading, there were those who stood and watched diligently. The Taylors and Mr Stewart were clustered in one area with the Kwans, the Harts were not far from the Scotts and Hank Cranston. It was a strange thing, but they clustered in links to each other as their children had done. 

"Do you think they can do it?" David asked in a hushed voice. 

Sam smiled. "As if I have some knowledge you do not?" He sighed. "If love has any place in war, or strength against destruction, then they have a chance – if only from those that worry on their behalf." 

David paused, considering this answer thoughtfully. "You really don't know, do you?" he said eventually. 

Sam Trueheart smiled and laughed, a strange sound in the tense atmosphere. "And now, son, you have perceived the truth at the heart of things." An utterance that got the chuckling response it deserved.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Ilana sighed and reported to the One. "Chosen Getha has perished along with most of his Legion. He underestimated the Enemy and believed he could break the accursed Ninjetti alone." She bowed her head in mute apology for her now dead compatriot's foolishness. 

"And has paid the price." The Darkness Visible replied, seemingly unperturbed. "I would not punish you for another's error, my Chosen. Patience is called for. We have spent millennia reaching towards this day; we can wait a few more hours until Dark Spectre's fleet is in position." 

"Very wise, my Lord." Ilana agreed in her soft melodic voice. 

The Nid-hi shape the Darkness Visible adopted blurred around the edges, particles streaming away as if stirred by a mighty force. She had seen the Darkness Visible do this before, dropping back into a state of energy and thought mingled, however this time she was to be surprised. 

To her shock the Darkness Visible shifted forms to … a human form. A human form as if imagined by a god, masculine, but angelically perfect, and gleaming with an aura of power. 

"In the meantime, let us try another form of warfare that will further our purpose," a smooth, compelling voice stated. 

Ilana stared. This must be the human equivalent of the One's Nid-hi form. She could appreciate its beauty. What did he intend? 

"Route power into a wide-band communication array. I believe the inhabitants of Earth should have a choice in whether they side with the Forces of Chaos or with the righteous cause of the Forces of Order." And the perfect human form, born of the deep unconscious images taken from the minds of the humans he had met and touched with his power, stood to address the inhabitants of Earth.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Dammit, the Nid-hi are directing a beam at Earth! A communications carrier wave!" Justin cursed, hands flickering over the console in the Power Chamber. 

"Can you block it?" Cestro asked, trying to compensate for the alterations himself with little success. 

"No ... it's … modulating as it goes." Justin stared in surprise at his readouts. "How can they DO that?" 

"It is imperative that you prevent the Darkness Visible from making contact," Zordon's voice boomed. "Who knows what havoc it could wreak?" 

"It's adapting itself to all forms of communication devices," Cestro observed again calmly. "It appears we were wise to utilise Rocky's abilities rather than conventional methods." 

Even to their communications devices the transmission adapted, for up on the screen the shape of an angel made flesh appeared. A human form that spoke deep inside to archetypes of the real thing, crying out to the human subconscious that it was a creature of Good. For all their efforts they could not stop that signal or the transmission going ahead. 

"Citizens of Earth. I am a visitor from far beyond this Galaxy, come in search of the worthy Guardians of a most sacred object of our people, lost in a terrible war many aeons ago." His voice was gentle, understanding and soothing. "Those guardians are you, the people of Earth, a most favoured planet and I ask you with all respect to seek out this simple object …" an image of a faintly glowing sphere appeared. "And return it to us, its rightful owners. Of course we of the Nid-hi would recompense you for your faithful guardianship, with gifts and wonders of the galaxy, technology to heal your sick, to feed your hungry and open your pathways to join us as Allies in the stars." 

"My god, but he's convincing," Adam's father murmured as he watched the broadcast. "Devious." 

The apparition of the Darkness Visible took on a faintly regretful look. "We would collect the item ourselves, but those who have kept its secret from you all this time, your own leaders and a group of zealous fanatics, wish to keep this object for themselves. They, as we speak, hurl themselves in violence against our peaceful race, slaughtering our advancing ships without mercy." 

Images of the drone fleet bombed into obliteration filled the screen and Hank paled as he watched, realising how much like slaughter that appeared when taken out of context. 

Then once more the wise, sorrowful expression of the Darkness Visible. "We do not blame them … they have been misled, and they are only young and easily swayed. I believe many of them are barely twenty of your years in age." 

"Dear God." Jason's father stared as images of the human Ninjetti flashed up in the transmission, complete with them unmasked, looking innocent and young, as their parents believed in their hearts that they actually were. 

"We have no wish to harm them, but we do have the right to defend ourselves, and we cannot leave without this object most sacred to our people, as valuable to us as your own True Cross, your sacred Qua'balah Black Stone, all that you hold as being holy and a part of what makes you a people. Let us exchange gifts at our first meeting, not aggressive blows … People of Earth, help us, please!" 

And the image faded, leaving a breathless silence. 

"Oh, but he was GOOD," Kat's father said, shaking his head. "If he were running for office, there would be a landslide and the opposition would vote for him, too." 

"But what is he trying to do?" Kim's mother questioned aloud. 

"Propaganda, pure and simple," Mr Scott said sourly. "Stinks of it. Turn your own side against you and the enemy is half-defeated. I bet half of you are sitting there, asking yourself private questions despite all our kids have told us ... hmm?" 

There were a few sheepish murmurs of agreement. 

"It's not that I don't believe them, but ... I know Kim, she sees things in black or white and if she feels it is wrong, then she fights," her father said. "She may not have considered that there is another option. A compromise, maybe." 

Hank sighed. "I've been in this longer than any of the rest of you and … they are not wrong. Do you think any of them WANT to be doing this? Risking their lives? Ninjetti DIED out there today, and you all clearly saw it was the Nid-hi that launched both attacks ... propaganda …" He shook his head. "Is it so bad to see through the eyes of the young, to divide the world into right and wrong? It is fear that makes us seek a way to deal with the devil ... for that's what he is, or as near to it as I ever want to see!" 

His forceful words seemed to break the web of words that had been spun around them. 

"Nevertheless, there's a planet full of people who don't have our insight, Hank," Anna Hart said aloud. 

"Let's not give the kids any reason to doubt that we are behind them. Things are tough enough as it is," Lillian DeSantos said, nodding in agreement with her own point. "And if anyone wants to argue … I'll put them straight." She glowered. 

Adam's mother whispered an aside to her husband. "God help the world." And he managed to contain an irreverent smile as he turned back to his assigned task.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


The Darkness Visible laughed as it ceased the transmission. "Chaos from within. A suitable irony." He chuckled as if he had just played a rich joke. "It should occupy them and distract them whilst the phased fleet moves into position." 

"Yes, Lord. When do you wish the main assault to begin?" Ilana asked humbly. 

"Just before the phase gems burn out and our esteemed Allies sweep down on the Earth and show my words false," the Darkness Visible said lightheartedly in rare good humour. 

"False, Lord?" Ilana raised her head, not quite believing this. 

"Only if they have not delivered my Orb to me within that time. They have their opportunity for salvation. I named them guardian, but a guardian that will not relinquish the property of their master is renamed thief," the Darkness Visible replied glibly. 

"Of course, Lord," Ilana murmured, her eyes clouded with a momentary doubt. "I will prepare the remaining Legions to end this war swiftly and they will not threaten you with this Ninjetti weapon of theirs." 

"I have no fear of their weapon," the Darkness Visible responded. "He has no soul of warrior-fire. I touched his mind and he is but a scared youngling, tormented by the Spirits to their purpose. There is little danger there." 

"This is good, my Lord," Ilana said mechanically. "Then our triumph comes soon." 

"Indeed, my Chosen, indeed."   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Tommy stormed out of White FalconZord on Moonbase in a foul mood. _"Rocky, don't those blasted Ronani know the MEANING of the word skirmish? I specifically said no actual engagement! They've lost half their number needlessly!"_

Rocky, still floating in orbit, sounded worried._ "Well ... they seemed to understand when I told them, but ..."_

"Either they understand orders or they don't!" Tommy muttered, angry at the wasted life, as he took a quick break whilst his Zord repaired and re-energised in the landing berths. He grabbed a quick bite of energy food and drink and ate on the run … stuffing his mouth full and forgetting to chew as he made it into one of the rec rooms that was showing the broadcast from The Darkness Visible again. 

"Geeeeeezus." He swallowed what he had been munching and stared as the human reporter appeared. 

"Everywhere on Earth received this information in the last half hour, translated into their own languages. The images displayed have been identified as inhabitants of Angel Grove in the main who have one thing in common. They were all present there when the phenomenon of the Power Rangers was at its peak." The reporter paused for emphasis. "Even more surprising is that representatives of the White House claim that the President is aware of the situation and is currently re-evaluating his information. This, coupled with the fact that stories are coming in all over the country of mysterious disappearances of nuclear missiles, lends credence to the fact this broadcast is not a hoax. If we accept it as genuine, then it becomes a decision as to whether we trust its content …" 

The reporter continued as Tommy stared at the screen, momentarily stunned. 

_"Did you all get that?" _He instinctively reached out to his most familiar teammates. 

_"Loud and clear," _Jason said disconsolately. 

_"It's psychological warfare," _Zack chipped in._ "Don't start doubting, man."_

_"I'm not doubting, but …"_ Tommy paused. It was going to be hard enough doing this without thinking that they might have to go against their own side, too. It would be difficult to see how people on Earth might NOT have doubts after that! 

_"When this is done ..." _Adam's calm voice interceded, _"then we can sort it out. It all becomes irrelevant otherwise."_

_"Would be nice to have the support, though." _Tanya sighed, hating the thought of this discordant note in their own side. 

_"We are Power Rangers."_ Billy's voice spoke up suddenly, reaching all of them. _"We are USED to working alone, with only each other standing between life and death. It is just a bigger scale …" _His sigh was audible and the wistful note was not lost on the others. _"We know what we are doing is right."_

_"Do we?" _Kat asked softly, but Rocky's link made sure everyone heard it. _"Would giving him the Orb stop the war?"_

There was a silence over the Ninjetti link. 

_"Yes." _Billy replied slowly, seemingly the only one who could answer that question. _"But only in that then he would have the power to destroy us with a mere effort of will. There would be no war because there would be no Ninjetti, no Earth … no forces of good to oppose him." _The most chilling thing was the statement that could so easily have been melodramatic was presented in cold, matter-of-fact terms. 

_"I think that answers our question." _Trini's voice came in from out of the cold depths of space where TigerZord prowled, testing the boundaries of their secured territory._ "If anything we know and love is going to survive, we have to fight for it."_

Agreement sounded from all of them and Tommy sighed. _"Thanks guys," _he replied quietly. _"We won't let that happen. We CAN'T let that happen."_

_"I don't understand why they are taking this breather," _Jason said, airing a concern that was niggling at him. _"A mysterious gap in proceedings usually meant they … well, Rita and Zedd at least, were up to something that would get us later. Billy, any ideas?"_

_"Skye and I have been working on locating this object, the Orb," _the Blue Wolf Ninjetti supplied._ "If we can locate it and get it AWAY from Earth, The Darkness Visible and the Nid-hi might follow."_

Tommy found himself nodding, though he knew no one could actually see the gesture. _"Good call. Any luck?"_

_"We're building a device that will detect reality fluctuations ... or more precisely we are trying to,"_ Billy reported, pausing to suck at his fingers as he singed them on a soldering tool. _"I am afraid this has left us little time for other speculation."_

_"We'll just have to do this on the fly." _Kim sounded determined. _"Most of us haven't used their Master Power either … that should help."_

_"Well, save it for when things are really bad," _Tommy replied with a sigh._ "I can't help thinking we used the others too soon."_

They tried not to think about that. The space-slicing ability of Vy-Ru may have been able to get their Allies' fleet there in a moment. But … they were gone, sacrificed so early in their campaign. 

_"Well, anyone who has any idea let me know?" _Tommy said again._ "I have to get back out there."_

_"As do all of us." _Aisha responded as she waited for her Zeebeedees to finish repairing the damage she took earlier. _"Green light … and I'm out of here!" _she broadcast. 

_"See you up there, Aish."_ Adam said and there were a few significant pauses that Rocky knew to be private exchanges between the various couples, just reaffirming their links with each other whilst they still could.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Master Vile to Dark Spectre. The phase gems are within an hour of failing, tighten up formation." Rita's father ordered curtly from his phased battle cruiser. 

"Tighten up formation? Why that jumped-up …" Dark Spectre rumbled, and his lava lines glowed brilliantly with annoyance. "I am in charge of the destruction of Earth!" he reminded the other space villain. 

Master Vile sneered, relishing a moment of technical superiority. "And I am in charge of the deployment of the phased fleet. As you may have noticed, you are a part of that fleet at the moment." 

"You are ESCORTING our attack force and providing cover for us!" Dark Spectre retorted. 

"Which we find hard to do when you are straggling," Master Vile said with a hint of smugness. 

"Very well. Dark Spectre out." The magma lord cut the connection. "The AUDACITY of the creature!" 

"My Lord?" Divatox looked at him askance, wondering if maybe she should think about cosying up to Master Vile a little, and whether she could do it without Dark Spectre knowing. 

"Remind me to pay him back for his insolence … slowly." Dark Spectre was NOT impressed by the impertinence. "He seeks favour with the Darkness Visible for his own ends. He must feel confident that he has the upper hand if he dares behave in such a way. I wonder … hmmm." The one-time OverLord of all Evil in the galaxy pondered. "I wonder if he believes he can find ... It." 

"'It', Lord?" Divatox asked, confused. "I thought we were to lay waste to earth to demoralise our enemies and possibly even force them to stop their defence." 

"It's a wonder you've survived this long." Dark Spectre's voice was scathing. "That is … at best a bonus. Did you not see the broadcast of the Darkness Visible?" 

The purple-haired space pirate frowned. "But that was mere … foolery to con the naive inhabitants of Earth!" She looked at his glowing eyes and frowned. "Wasn't it?" 

"As the humans say, 'Many a true word spoken in jest'." His presence seemed to swell with brooding power. "The Orb is there ... the Earth is nothing, meaningless. So it may affect our enemies … the war is academic, anyway. We have them outclassed. Sooner or later they will fall. Divatox, you must spread your toxic chemical warfare as soon as possible when we reach there and try and extort the answer from one of their leaders." It did not even occur to him that they might not know. 

Power sought Power and he knew now why his brother Maligore had become so obsessed with this place. "I misjudged you, brother," Dark Spectre murmured to himself. "Thought you weak for turning your back on conquest and thinking you turned away from the joys of Power to shame me. Instead, your hunger was great enough to draw you after the ultimate prize." 

Divatox listened closely, though the words were obviously private. Who would know what would be useful? "I will do as you command, Dark Spectre." 

"Yes." The Dark Lord roused himself from his reverie. "I'm sure you will."   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


_"This picture looks wrong."_ Rocky shook his head as he strove to work out what exactly was wrong from his mental perception of the killing grounds. 

On the surface it appeared standard. The Enemy was there and moving towards them here. They clashed head-on in the middle. End of story. 

"Which is ridiculous." Rocky frowned again. Jason was right, this pause was most definitely not normal. According to his reading, an opponent used a lull in a conflict to do one of a few things. Lick its wounds. Prepare a counter attack, or wait for a prearranged strategy to manifest. 

"Not going to be the first," he said to himself, having already assessed that the Legion of Nid-hi they had destroyed had not been a large portion of their fighting force from the sheer amount of 'motherships' they had. "One of the last two." _What if it was a prearranged strategy? That was the most dangerous. Is the Darkness Visible arrogant enough to believe it could destroy them head on? Maybe, possibly. As yet there have been no flanking attempts. Why?_ The thoughts whirled around, chasing elusive answers that slid like shadows from his grasp. 

His apespirit rumbled._ "Danger in the forest comes from all around, above and below,"_ it commented and Rocky paused, experiencing a cold dawning fear. He was being encouraged to look at this battle as if it was linear, as if it was taking place on Earth. This was space! It was only habit that had them fighting on a horizontal plane! For crying out loud, why hadn't they noticed this before? 

Alarmed, Rocky started combing the area of space around Earth in a spherical fashion, searching for anomalies in the sensors. It was such an alien concept, but then Rocky considered how little experience they had with fighting in space and realised that it wasn't natural to alert to … predators from ALL spatial points. Though in reality it came through into his brain as 'weird and unnatural'. 

"Dammit!" Rocky swore. He felt an uneasy flicker and had nothing to justify his feeling, however hard he looked. Still … would it harm to bring Adam, Aisha and Kat over towards this sector from their HomeGuard? He instinctively chose those he knew and trusted for longer than others. His oldest friends and his love … just in case. 

There. A flicker in space, from his position diagonally beneath the Earth. But just as he was trying to focus his attention, the frontline sensors went ballistic and Nid-hi Legions streamed out of the Armada motherships in uncountable numbers, demanding his immediate attention. 

"Second WAVE. It's the big one, everyone!" Rocky alerted them, scrambling the Ninjetti squadrons. "Move, people, move!" he encouraged urgently as he watched them pour once more into space. 

_"You heard him … Tanya, you think you can keep sending out megazord patterns like you worked out with Billy?"_ Tommy said through the Ninjetti link, referring to a hasty discussion they had had on boosting their basic firepower over an energy pack meal. Jason had mentioned that it was a shame there were no megazords, and Billy had replied that there was no reason the Zords could not link, it was merely the combinations and compatibility that would take more time to calculate through the computer than would be effective in battle. Or as Zack put it, "A Ninjetti Megazord would be coming together as a MegaSitting DuckZord." 

That was, until Tanya had mentioned she had no difficulty in telling exactly which Zords could go where, an ability that seemed linked to her Master Power of Unity. That had resulted in a flurry of excitement and activity and a possibly new weapons resource for them all. 

_"No problem,"_ she responded calmly. Being the unseen connection was somewhat satisfying and it would protect them. Tanya focused sternly, finding that the shapes danced in her mind naturally, like elaborate jigsaw pieces, turning shapes around visually so they would knit together. If this was one of the lesser functions of her Master Power, she began to wonder what her full power might be able to accomplish. 

_"Great. Concentrate on that rather than frontline action," _Tommy said in his 'tense leader commanding' tone. He had also made another decision on the advice of Zordon. 

_"Dulcea, I can't risk the Darkness Visible getting hold of you. Drop back to HomeGuard and ask Jason to release someone to take your place."_

_"White Falcon ... I could make stealth strikes. OwlZord is completely cloaked by my Master Power of Silence,"_ the Master Warrior of the Ninjetti protested automatically. She was the most experienced! Being relegated … 

_"If the opportunity arises." _Tommy was firm in his response._ "Now I need to bolster Earth defence. There are too many coming at us that we will actually be able to STOP them in space. Not like we have a barrier or anything, and you are one of the Council of the Wise after all."_

_"Agreed."_ Dulcea sighed and OwlZord sped back to join Jason on the Home Guard Line, hating even the appearance of fleeing from her racial enemy despite her previous doubts. 

Rocky, his mind whirling with battle information, tried to surface long enough to check out that flicker. Practically having to wrench his mind from the Frontline action, he tuned his attention to those other sensors and was therefore the only one watching that area of space when ... 

"Phase Gem failure ... in … three … two … one … Burnout!" Divatox announced triumphantly. 

"Good," Dark Spectre rumbled. "Let us take our fleet to Earth. Master Vile … carry out your mission of securing the planetary zone." 

"Yes, Dark Spectre." Master Vile acknowledged grudgingly, cutting communication as they began to split off, a devastating fleet that appeared out of nowhere. 

Rocky now knew what it felt like to have a heart attack … or as close to it as made no difference. "Jeeezus!" His chest and lungs had literally frozen in shock as an entire fleet shimmered into existence before his eyes. His ApeZord computer was not helping either. 

"Scanning … craft identified ... Divatox Space-sub … scanning, craft identified Quantron fleet. Scanning, craft identified Dark Spectre flagship. Scanning, craft identified, Zedd warships … scanning, craft identified Vile destroyers ..." 

"Shut up, shut up!" Rocky desperately did NOT want to hear this. 

"Mute activated." The computer monologue ceased, but the warnings flashed up as the computer matched the fighter configurations one after another. Scorpion fighters, even Machine Empire cogs and battle drones – all made up that fleet. The United Alliance of Evil in all its dark glory, uneasily combined and co-operating at least temporarily for this one time, targeting them and Earth specifically. 

_*This is no time to go to pieces. Strategy … strategy …*_ Rocky sounded the warning. 

"HomeGuard! Alert! We have a fleet appearing out of phased space. All our old friends are joining the party!" 

"Shit!" Jason was nothing if not eloquent. "What the hell are we going to do? We have our hands full backing up the frontline!" 

The HomeGuard had moved into action, thin on numbers but heavy on firepower as the squadrons evaded the frontline defence. 

"Their fleet is splitting into two – one section moving to Earth and the other coming round to catch Frontline on the flank," Rocky warned. 

Billy's voice spoke up over the link. _"We NEED the Allies' fleet … otherwise we've had it."_

"It's still a few star systems away … not due to arrive even at top speed for another couple of hours," Rocky explained, monitoring their transmissions as well as the battle. 

"We need them here faster!" Jason said forcefully 

"_If running needs to be done, and in speed is life, a cheetah understands that most of all,"_ Kat's Cheetahspirit reminded her. 

_"Faster … that's my department,"_ Kat blurted out across the link. 

_"Your Master Power?" _Billy said, suddenly remembering. _"You think you can accelerate the Allies' FLEET?"_

_"I'll have to," _Kat said firmly. _"It's what HAS to be done."_

_"Kat, it's too much!" _Rocky said, suddenly terrified she would overextend herself. They had been warned that pushing beyond the limits of their Power might result in collapse, or worse. 

"Rocky … look at the readouts ... it has to be worth a try!" Kat said, determined now. Did they really have a choice? 

He couldn't deny that. With each passing moment the situation deteriorated, and if there was any hope, however small, they must try it. 

Jason made the decision immediately, having reached that conclusion already and came up with some sort of plan to try and buy the time necessary. 

_"Right … Adam, Aisha, you are closest. Intercept and try and delay the flanking part of their fleet as best you can – keep them off of Tommy and our main forces, or they will be crushed against the Nid-hi battle cruisers. Kat, you try and get the allies here as fast as possible." _Jason snapped out crisp orders one after another. _"Zack, Dulcea, Delphine, we'll try and intercept the warships entering Earth atmosphere. Billy, Skye, Kim and Rocky, keep Moonbase and Rocky's position clear; and Rocky … tell the Power Chamber to alert the governments that an attack is in progress – now they can see how the Darkness Visible lies. Let's move it, people!"_

Obediently they scattered, clearing an area for Kat to make her dash for help. 

_"You're clear, Kat," _Rocky said across the link and then added privately,_ "Take care, love."_

_"I will, Rocky." _The Pink Cheetah Ninjetti smiled to herself at the concern in his voice. _"I'll be back soon."_ And she had no qualms at all about blowing him a mental kiss before turning to her task. 

Kat pressed her hand to the Master glyph and felt it pulse beneath her hand, a throbbing synchronised with her heartbeat. In her mind her Cheetah spirit circled, the fluidity of its movement hypnotising her. The Master Ninjetti Power lay coiled within her … like the tensed muscles of a cheetah about to sprint. She had to get there and had to get them back, all of them back here to face the fleet just come out of phase. Adam and Aisha would not be able to hold them long. She COULD do it ... she COULD! 

"Master Ninjetti Power Maraz! Hopespeed!" A burst of light enveloped her Zord, time itself seeming to slow as she sped up. Responding to her desire and will, the Pink CheetahZord blurred and streaked out of their solar system, towards the distant Allies' fleet.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Two against a fleet of practically everyone they had ever fought in the past. They'd managed them one at a time, but all together? 

_"This is not going to be easy, Aish,"_ Adam murmured through the link, looking at the terrifying odds in front of them, trying to find a point of balance within himself. 

_"You kidding?" _Aisha replied in a tight voice._ "Piece of cake … well, a cake made of titanium, with a filling of diamond-encrusted gelignite and plastic explosive topping."_

Adam gave a slight smile to himself. _"You'll make me hungry."_

_"Kinda the idea," _Aisha sent back, her hands abnormally tight on the controls. _"I suppose a plan is out of the question?"_

_"Well, since you ask so nicely." _The Black frog Ninjetti had been thinking furiously. _"They unphased a fleet out of nowhere … how about we try the same?"_

_"Say what?"_Aisha replied, wondering if Adam had lost it. 

_"My Master Power … illusion. I believe I can create the illusion of a fleet out here. I may make them cautious enough to hold off sweeping in on Tommy and the others from behind." _Adam tried to sound confident._ "Especially if you and I provide real fire amongst the fake."_

_"Won't their sensors indicate there's nothing there?" _Aisha asked, hating to pick holes, but it would be a pretty pointless effort if the enemy sensors could see through an illusion. 

_"It will be a complete illusion," _Adam responded. He would have to provide both the appearance of weaponry, and the appearance to the enemy fleet that their sensor readouts were indeed measuring heavy weaponry. 

_"Considering we are nearly on them and this is the only plan we have … I say ... go for it, Adam."_ The Yellow Bear Ninjetti nodded, committing herself to support his idea. 

Adam stared at the advancing fleet and closed his mind, dropping back into the void where he had contacted his Frog Spirit once more. Not emptiness … but potential. Potential to create from thought itself. 

"Master Power Shas," he said quietly, touching the gleaming jet glyph on the front of his spirit warrior armour. A shift … a blurring of the edges of perception, and painstakingly he created their own fictional phased fleet. Bright and clear in his mind. Sharp and real. *_David Copperfield, eat your heart out!* _He was going to make an entire space fleet … appear.. 

With an exhalation of immense effort from Adam, the Master-Powered illusion shimmered into view as if uncloaking from phase space. 

"Dark Spirits of the Void!" Dark Spectre stood suddenly as a fleet materialised between them and their objective. "Sensor reports?" 

The consoles shimmered imperceptibly. "Sensors read them, my lord," a hapless console worker reported, receiving a cuff for his part in bringing bad news to the dark lord. 

"How by all that's Evil did they manage to bring a fleet here?" Divatox said, her mouth agape as she took in the details of the opposing fleet. 

"We managed it," the Magma Lord said darkly. 

Well, that was true. It took a while for the shock to sink in as Dark Spectre slowed their progress to a third, his attacking fleet creeping in more cautiously towards the Frontline Ninjetti. He frowned disbelievingly, not willing to accept the evidence of his own eyes and the fact they may have been outsmarted. 

"Fire a salvo of your torpedoes, Divatox, at the central formation," he ordered. 

The purple-haired pirate transported herself to her space sub, a smirk on her lips. "Fire torpedoes … let's sting 'em a little!" she gloated, glad to be in action at last. 

_"Incoming!" _Rocky warned his two longtime friends, but getting no response. _"Adam … Adam?"_

_"Don't distract him," _Aisha replied urgently. _"I have no idea how he is maintaining so many variables at once … and I don't want to throw him."_

Adam was trembling with strain, needing the illusion to hold, needing it to protect his friends, to save his family, MAKING it work by sheer strength of will. 

"_I'm … okay,"_ he said through the link. _"Aisha, take out the torpedoes; I'll make it look convincing."_

The Black Frog Ninjetti felt like he was wilting under such a vast influx of information, constantly trying to escape him, like an elusive dream image wavering on the edge of consciousness. Still, he rallied as Aisha obeyed, making it appear as if defenders in the fleet had intercepted the torpedoes and exploded them, and for authenticity that one of them damaged a ship. 

_"Predators look more closely at wounded prey,"_ his frogspirit commented silently. 

_*That is the idea. They will not notice when I lose the periphery … I can't hold on much longer,*_ Adam replied, feeling things starting to unravel and desperately trying to distract their opponent with what appeared to be an aggressive move by a phalanx of illusionary ships. In reality it was Aisha, cloaked by a weaving of his imagination. 

"Dark Spectre … they are attacking!" Divatox informed him. "And …" the Space sub rolled under a very substantial impact, sending alarms blaring. "Their firepower is real enough! I've taken a hit." 

"Peel off and go and keep an eye on Vile, Zedd and Rita," Dark Spectre instructed. "I doubt Earth will have anything that will trouble your shields even at half strength." 

"As you command, Lord." Divatox smiled behind her half mask. Well well, looked like she had managed to worm her way into Dark Spectre's confidence after all. Good. She obeyed as Dark Spectre's forces cautiously started to inch forward through space, looking to close in and crush Tommy's Ninjetti offensive from a flanking position. 

Dark Spectre studied the screen, not entirely convinced for all of the reported actual damage. After all, there was very little of it, less than you would expect. Either they were really bad shots … or something was definitely awry. His eyes gleamed lava-red bright and hot as fresh blood as he ordered, "Check for phase gem residual emission." 

That was what was missing. His command of earth and fire should have had the presence of phase gems fizzing and bubbling in his awareness, much like those in his own fleet had done. 

"None detected, my Lord," an ensign reported. 

A flare of magma light as DarkSpectre paused for thought, and then gave his nearest equivalent to a smile as he noticed a barely perceptible flicker to the ships on the edges of their opposition. "Isn't that interesting. All forces! Attack speed. This fleet is illusion!" 

"Sire?" chimed in a voice incredulously. 

"Do not argue." The simple phrase alluded indirectly to the fate of those who had argued, albeit very briefly. "Carry out my orders." 

Slowly Dark Spectre's forces began to accelerate implacably towards the illusionary defenders.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Madre de Dios …" Rocky muttered under his breath. "Adam, Aisha, you've been rumbled. They are coming right at you. Bug out!" 

Adam's head was swimming and dizzily he tried to cope with the splitting headache that was pounding on his optic nerves. It crept into peculiar sparkling lights that ate away at his vision and drained all strength from his body, filling his sight with bright sharp pain. 

_ "I… can't … hold ..."_ His head dropped forward to rest on the console as the last vestiges of the Master Power flickered and dispersed with his consciousness. 

The gleaming illusory fleet shimmered like the elusive thread of a dream slipping through the fingers of memory and vanished, exposing the battling Ninjetti to potential devastation. 

_"Tommy! Watch your six!_ " Rocky yelled as the apparent defence vanished, leaving the Frontline wide open to attack and the pair of Ninjetti spirit warriors terribly exposed between the opposing forces. _"Aisha… get out of there!"_

_"I'm trying to raise Adam,"_ the Yellow Bear Ninjetti snapped back. _"Adam? Adam … get your lazy butt out of the way of the fleet … Adam?! Dammit!"_ Aisha hit her console in frustration. 

_"Aisha, move!"_ Rocky pleaded. 

There was a silence. A silence filled with a lifetime of memories, of a childhood where the three of them lived from each other's houses, of sharing a first kiss with Adam as the petals fell on the spring breeze. He wasn't just a friend. He was a best friend. It had been a pain that she had never thought she would get over to realise she would have faded from their memories whereas she held those treasured moments clear and bright inside for all of them. Then there had been joy as they remembered … bit by bit. She was not going to lose that again. There were many ways to love, and one of the truest paths of a warrior of the heart was to never give up on a friend. 

Her hand reached towards her glyph, realising she had to stop the fleet. It was her nature to fight; it was her nature to battle, to attack to defend so she would be true to her nature as Nin-jor had described. 

"Master Power Thornaz!" she practically shouted as a battle cry, and around the Yellow Bear Zord an immense flickering raging form roared and charged the entire fleet, oblivious to opposition, damage or vulnerability. 

Rocky watched in horror. _"Tommy, Aisha's gone after Dark Spectre. Adam's disabled, by the looks of it."_

_"Rocky, we can't break off … the Nid-hi are all over us!"_ Tommy yelled back, their forces under immense pressure. Whoever was commanding this assault was a Master themselves. Even that moment's distraction was nearly too much. "Whoa!" He barrel-rolled out of a circle of deadly explosive blooms. 

_"I'll go after them!"_ Rocky said desperately, trying not to SEE them in his mind so clearly as tiny specks about to be crushed. 

"No ... hold position! Hold position! We lose you, the whole thing collapses!" Tommy raised his voice, truly worried now. 

_*I hate this … I hate this …*_ Rocky repeated over and over to himself, locked into position while his friends were in trouble. 

If anyone had seen Aisha then, they would have been terrified. It was somehow profoundly disturbing to see the full primal ferocity of a predator unleashed in a human who smiled, talked, shopped, went to school and studied. Eyes that usually held nothing but compassion and caring were devoured by rage – an incandescent rage that ate away her humanity. Reduced to the essentials, she was blindingly quick and ferocious and came right at the fleet, unpredictable and deadly. 

"Laughable." Dark Spectre shook his head. "Fire long-range missiles. I don't want a ship to slow us down." 

The missiles were fired, locked on target, exploding in plasma burst of actinic light, and yet the Zord still kept coming. 

Dark Spectre frowned. Strange. "Lock main plasma guns and fire!" he ordered, raising his rough voice. 

It should have been enough to destroy a moon, and yet, from out of the roiling furious energy, the Zord kept coming.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Kat had braked, the Power of Hopespeed still thrumming through her body, slipping into the Cheetah Zord to be unleashed at her command. It had been a phenomenal experience, a rush of speed so intense that it seemed she had danced through stars and space, and nothing could stop her. It seemed no time at all before she had seen her target, and willed the headlong rush to cease. There before her was the Allies' fleet, headed up by that so familiar black triangular warship, Pyramidas. 

"Unidentified craft! This is the Allies' fleet commander, the Phantom Ranger. State your identity." Kerrin's crisp voice hailed her, his image appearing on her screen from the bridge of the Space Rangers' craft. Even now she noted Cassie's proximity to him and wondered in the jumble of thought whether they had got together before this all happened. She hoped so. She shook her head to try and calm her accelerated thoughts. 

"Katherine of Earth, Pink Cheetah Master Ninjetti," Kat stated firmly and clearly, not wanting to be misunderstood at this critical juncture. "I'm going to try and get you to the battle now. A second fleet is attempting to flank our forces and we need reinforcement. Fortunately they are non-Nid-hi so your weaponry should be effective against them." 

"We are travelling at maximum speed already," Phantom said, shaking his head. "We understand the need for haste, but some things are not possible." 

"You forget your heritage – With the Great Power, all things are possible," Kat replied, sincerely hoping her words were not meaningless. "I will use the power of the Master Ninjetti to get you there in time. We must hurry, every moment could mean disaster. Take your fleet to battle readiness, Phantom," Kat stated, trying to believe in her own words, unaware of how confident she sounded. "_How am I going to transport ALL of them? There are thousands of them!"_

She closed her eyes a moment. There was no room for doubt. Speed was their salvation, the difference between life and death. In one moment life and death could clash, and who knew which would emerge victorious? Time to tip the odds in their favour. 

"Brace yourselves … gonna be a fast and rough ride," Kat warned, her blue eyes fierce with the knowledge of what HAD to be done to save her friends, her family and the Earth. 

"Fleet prepared." Kerrin sounded only the slightest bit unsure. He knew the legends of the Great Power, but one person moving an entire space fleet strained his credulity. "We are at your disposal and battle ready!" 

"Acknowledged." The Pink Cheetah Zord glowed as Kat concentrated, the aura of Power stretching out, jumping from ship to ship, knitting them together in a giant web of light. Her muscles tensed under the strain, feeling the additional burden in a strange fashion, increased in presence as she connected each of the allies into her speed. But still the power grew as her mind turned to thoughts of home and her fear that they would be too late. They HAD to get back! Rocky was there; if she didn't, Rocky would be one of the first to be overwhelmed and she could not allow that! Her lungs and muscles feeling like they would burst with effort, she let the Master Power of Hopespeed uncoil and sweep the fleet away on their desperate mercy mission at incomprehensible speed through space. 

In actual time, the trip took little time, very little time, but to Kat it was an eternity. Time subjectively stretched out, running as in a dream, running and feeling things pass around her, but some terrible, dreadful thing dragging her down and fear in every heartbeat. 

_*Just a little further … just a little further … end of the race, finish line ahead … then ... then you can stop running and …*_ Kat's heart was pounding as if she had run every parsec physically carrying all those ships on her back, dragging them like chains weighing her down, muscles trembling with strain. 

Somehow she could see through the blurred space to know the end was in sight. She had to be soon enough! She had to be in time, whatever the cost. 

And … HERE! The brakes were on and inertia halted, throwing her against the straps in her seat. She hoped it was enough, god, she couldn't breathe, was going to be sick and pass out. 

The Allies' fleet swept forward around her tumbling craft to prevent them pouncing on the Ninjetti Frontline, ready to engage from the moment they dropped out of the hyperspeed Kat had managed to effect, and not unnaturally their presence caused some consternation. 

"Dark Spectre, a fleet has appeared out of nowhere!" a subordinate reported, sounding shocked. 

"Can't they come up with a more original ruse?" the Magma Lord snarled. How tedious. "Any phase gem residuals?" 

"No, sire," the ensign reported. 

"Then it is another fake. Pathetic. I expected more from those who thwart the Alliance of Evil for so long." Dark Spectre looked at the approaching berserk Zord with a sense of unease. "What is that thing!?" 

"It is but one Zord, my Lord," an advisor said, placating him. "What difference can one Zord make?" 

"True enough. Launch fighters!" came the terse order. "We will crush this petty defence." 

**_"Enemy there … threat ... main threat! Danger! Invading territory!"_**

Aisha was reacting on a visceral level. There was a threat to her, her 'family', her territory and THIS was one of the main attackers. With Berserker power she ploughed through weapons fire that would have destroyed half of their forces and latched, tearing and clawing, with her Zord to the flagship that contained Dark Spectre. 

**_"Kill … end the threat … fight … kill … protect _…"**

She was merged with the most primal side of her animal spirit the Bear. Gone was the wisdom, and present was the strength and protection this spirit was endowed with in such great quantities. 

"Enemy Zord has engaged our craft … physically," the shaken ensign reported, as Dark Spectre's flagship trembled. 

"By the Powers of Darkness! Get the fighters to blast it off," Dark Spectre roared. 

"My Lord, that may damage the outer hull!" the subordinate said desperately. 

"And the craft is not? IDIOT!" Dark Spectre lashed out with his Power, abruptly filling the hapless ensign's bones with liquid fire. The unfortunate creature did not scream for too long as the flagship rocked under the inconceivable attack. 

His anger fuelled rather than abated by the murder of one of his subordinates, Dark Spectre roared in defiance and routed power to the hull of his battleship to electrify the intruder, not caring about anyone else who might fall foul of his retaliatory measures. NOTHING could survive that! 

An assessment that was proven by the explosions of the outer hull gun turrets as plasma energy tried to purge the ship clean. 

Protected by the Master Power, though that energy flared and flickered like a raging fire, impossibly the damage did not seem to stop the Yellow Bear Zord. 

The tiny scrap of fighting technology tore and hacked at the surface of the flagship, a speck against its immense bulk, but like a needle against a bloated balloon, piercing, unstoppable and relentless. 

A dim awareness warned Aisha this could not last and her conscious mind wrested some semblance of control over her primal attack, arrowing towards an exposed core channel, burrowing deeper into the metallic hide of the enemy craft. The rage flickered and faltered and trusting the invulnerability would last just long enough, she launched deadly missiles whilst embedded in the very belly of Dark Spectre's flagship. A terminal eruption of acid plasma flame streamed into the vulnerable underbelly, filling its internal structure with the purifying fire. 

In a series of painfully slow explosions, for all of Dark Spectre's ranting and raving, the Flagship was crippled and dying, bleeding debris and fuel before cracking apart in a startling shattering silence, spewing out a last vomiting burst of white plasma to mark its passing. 

A spontaneous cheer rang through the link as the news was passed around, but Rocky was acutely aware that THREE master Ninjetti were tumbling aimlessly on that battleground as the Allies' fleet rushed to engage the remainder of Dark Spectre's forces. 

_"Billy, we have to get Kat, Aisha and Adam out of there,"_ he called out, selecting the closest of the HomeGuard to instruct and resolutely breaking orbit. 

_"Understood."_ Billy glanced at Skye, who was already tracking and plotting a course to intercept the nearest Zord casualty as he tried to fly and not lose too much time on completion of his assignment. The Blue WolfZord chased across the field of fire and locked onto the first disabled craft, the floating Black FrogZord. 

_"Adam! Adam, can you hear me?"_ Billy focussed urgently as the Frogzord was drawn into a tractor beam embrace and then more clumsily borne from the battlefield of stars. Encumbered, they took some hits and the Blue Wolf Ninjetti cursed as some of his delicate calibrations were upset, but he was more concerned that there was no response from Adam. 

"Skye?" He turned to his friend concernedly, knowing his friend would see the request in his eyes. 

There was a glimmer of light in the heart of the Star Crystal as the Phoenix Ninjetti reached out and investigated with his mind. 

"He's alive – unconscious, but alive. Exhaustion mainly," Skye reported, sounding relieved. 

Billy echoed that sigh of relief, unable to conceal his reaction. "Alert Moonbase we are bringing him in. If he's just unconscious, then some time on the Table should bring him round in no time." 

Rocky unclenched a fist. Thank God! That was one down. His own intercept course took him directly towards his last marker for the Pink Cheetah Zord. _"Kat? Kat, Aisha can you hear me?" _Around him dazzles of hostile fire burst like fireworks and ships flashed and turned, wheeled and burned in the night. 

_"I've got … Aisha…"_ Kat gasped out as if she had been running and was still trying to catch her breath_. "Her Zord is… trashed..and we have some unfriendlies coming our way."_ She gulped and swallowed convulsively as her lungs heaved for air. She felt like she was still going to throw up and her muscles were all shaky, which would be fine if she weren't in the middle of astarship firefight. At the end of a cross-country route, or a hard workout or gruelling dance session maybe, but not here and now. Her Zord reflected her drained power and struggled to move at all. 

_"I'm coming, Kat," _Rocky said, his tone completely serious. 

_"No… you have to stay where you are. Not risk communications," _Kat said wearily. 

_"I am protecting communications. If something happened to you … they … I would fall apart," _Rocky replied in a very sensible tone, which was all the more affecting for its calm seriousness._ "Rescuing you is a sound strategy – and here I come!"_

The Red Ape Zord spun and tore through the enemy squadron, reflecting Rocky's long-pent-up need to strike back at the Nid-hi. It was good to act and release some of the tension that had been rising, as the odds grew ever higher against them. 

_"I'll cover you."_ A voice sounded on the normal channels. He had to think a moment, but recognised the ship. There were very few that didn't remember a massive black flying pyramid. 

_"Thanks, Trey,"_ Rocky said gratefully, sweeping in behind the lee of the Pyramid Zord to retrieve Kat and Aisha, not liking the look of the Bear Zord at all. It seemed a miracle it was hanging together and he secured it carefully before taking **it, **staggering back to Moonbase with his precious cargo. 

_"Gotcha, love,"_ he murmured to Kat as he reluctantly released them into a docking hanger. _"I hate to do this …"_

_"..but you have to go. I know."_ Kat said, a smile audible in her voice _"Go on, love. I'll take care of Aisha."_

_"Be with you soon, Kat,"_ Rocky promised her and himself as he returned to his assigned post with a mental sigh.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Are they being deliberately obstructive or just dense?" Jason snapped as he examined his readouts. "Military aircraft, you are ignoring our warnings! Do not engage the enemy, they have shields that your weaponry will not affect." He instructed tersely once again. 

"There's very little Tomahawks won't touch," a calm, assured voice responded. "Look, kid, we know what we are doing. We're experienced in live combat. Back off and let us deal with these alien buggers." 

_*Kid? Kid? I've seen more action than you have even if you are three times my age!* _His Lionspirit growled and he fought the instinct to just stand back and let them get on with it. Jason grimaced; the propaganda of the Darkness Visible was swift in its impact. Rather carefully he used his diplomatic skills from the Peace Conference to not respond hastily. 

"I'm sure you have, sir, but I am telling you you'll end up with a face full of missile exploding on you and not a scratch on their ships!" He tried reasoning with them – fruitlessly. 

"Jason, leave it. We have an atmosphere entry on the West Coast!" His father's voice sounded over the communicators rather than through the link. "Major enemy incursion." 

"But …" He couldn't just let them go into danger like that. They would be killed! Needlessly, more to the point, because they wouldn't listen to vital information! 

"Jason! Do as I say." His father snapped out a command that spoke to many childhood instincts and memories, and Jason found himself breaking off and wheeling Red Lion Zord away instinctively. 

"Sorry, son," his father added afterwards. "But we need you there. Lilian is going to talk to the military," he said as if pulling an ace from up his sleeve. 

"Tell her not to upset too many four-star generals," Jason said dryly. Mrs DeSantos was rapidly acquiring legendary status and his respect for Rocky had increased considerably. "Who is party crashing the West?" 

"Zedd and Co." Justin's voice sounded over the normal communication channels. 

Jason shook his head. Seemed weird hearing him as a baritone, he was still a kid, for crying out loud. He had a sudden irreverent thought of Justin's voice having broken into a bass and mentally kicked himself for letting his mind try to escape from the pressures at hand. 

"How are they doing in Europe?" he asked, not wanting to disturb Delphine if it was not necessary. 

"Making headway," came the rather evasive response. "Experiencing much the same attitude you are getting now from their military forces." 

"Tell me they didn't reach the capital cities," Jason begged as the blip of enemy craft appeared on his sensors. 

There was a telling hesitation. 

"Dad?" Jason felt the pressure of that silence grow in a way that made the back of his neck prickle. 

There was a cough and a clearing of throat as if words were proving reluctant to control in his father's mouth. "Er … most of the capital cities are safe - so far." 

Hesitation was NOT good news. "Where did they reach?" Jason asked in a tense tone. 

"Geneva, Moscow … and part of London," his father said, reluctant to burden his son with this information. The newsfeed was horrific in its graphic depiction of cities in flames. 

Jason closed his eyes momentarily. God. He'd BEEN to those places. Walked their streets, laughed and breathed the air that was now choked with destruction. When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with a purpose and fire that would have startled those who knew him. Revenge – no, but justice, justice was allowed. 

"Son? You need backup before you take them on. Jason? Jason, are you listening?" His father cursed as the channel was cut off and he watched that tiny glowing speck of light on the tracking display head straight towards the large cluster of enemies.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Divatox watched Rita and Zedd drop through the atmosphere and then chose an insertion point that would take her down near Washington, DC. 

Reasoning told her that if the United States, however pitiful a group, did not know the location of this Orb then they had sufficient resources to extract that information with all haste. She waited until that Red Lion Ninjetti was engaged in battle before locking on to the White House and taking over their communications with ridiculous ease. 

"Mr President - I believe that is the term of address you use." Divatox's visage appeared from every screen, her voice from every speaker. "We are feeling a little impatient now. We want that Orb, and you know what? When you can destroy a planet with little effort, you don't get terribly enamoured of being kept waiting." 

"We don't HAVE access to that information," the President said firmly. "Not that I would hand it over just like that if I did." 

"Oh, I think you would." Divatox smiled, a cold malicious curve to her lips. "You are not aware of how much incentive you have to do so." The half mask seemed to crawl with shadows for a moment. "Let me make this clear. You have one hour to provide me with the location of the Orb, if not the item itself, or I will release a nerve gas over your city that will have your precious voters ... dying in agonies in about … oooh, 5 minutes." She smiled again. 

"I recommend that you not even consider that I am bluffing. There are plenty of civilisations who found out the hard way that Divatox the Space Pirate never bluffs when the real thing is so much more fun." 

The President was then treated to a compilation of Divatox's greatest massacres from around the galaxy before her face appeared again "One hour. Oh, you'll need a timer." And one of her bombs materialised on his desk, reinforcing how completely outclassed he was in terms of technology and security. 

The President looked up and saw the message in Divatox's eyes glittering with malice. 

_There is nowhere that I cannot get to you, anytime, any place._

As her image vanished, he reluctantly set in motion the calls to set all of the resources at his disposal on the task of locating this object. 

"If nothing else, I need something to be able to bargain with it," he rationalised, but deep down it was a cold fear that slipped chill fingers into the pit of his stomach and squeezed the co-operation from him.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Forces of Darkness, there's only ONE of them!" Zedd grumbled. "We should have borrowed some of Scorpina's warriors." 

"Quiet! I'm trying magic here!" Rita snapped, the ritual falling in tatters as her concentration tore apart at the disruption. 

"My Lord, it is that one who was the Red Ranger." Goldar snarled, his eyes glowing red. There was a bond between them, and with the instinct of a warrior race Goldar sensed it was time for them to meet again. He looked forward to it. "I request my Lord's permission to enter the fray." 

Lord Zedd looked irritated. "Of course. Take Cyclopsis and stop that blasted Red Ranger … Red Ninjetti, whatever he is, from bothering us until Rita has found the Orb." 

The giant winged primate snarled in a grin and, making an obeisance, hurried to battle, savouring the expected defeat of a bitter enemy like the taste of hot fresh blood in his mouth.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"The battle goes well, my lord, for all their sudden manifestation of Allies," Ilana reported from her fighter where she was co-ordinating the battle with all her fearsome intelligence and ability. "We are making headway toward their planet. Their forces have been distracted by the second assault, as you predicted." 

The soothing voice of the Darkness Visible responded. "This is as planned, though I note our Allies have become over-enthusiastic in their attempts to secure the Orb on my behalf." There was a hint of wry sarcasm to the last phrase. 

"My Lord, if they cannot locate it with their brutal methods, then …" Ilana paused, "how do you propose to do so yourself?" 

"Such a bold question, my Chosen." The Darkness Visible chuckled with wry humour. "Plans within plans. We will locate my Orb, never fear … let's just say I have one of the best minds at my disposal working on it." 

"Yes, my Lord." Ilana's voice disappeared as the Darkness Visible stared out across space. 

It really was a shame that mind wasn't actually on his side. "Don't let me down, Wolf Ninjetti, I have placed a great deal of trust in you," he murmured to himself as the conflict burned in the heavens against the backdrop of stars.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Nearly got it," Billy said under his breath. "Try and hold them off a little longer, Skye; I need some stability here." 

"Doing my best," came the terse response as WolfZord tackled another of the swarms of quantrons converging around Rocky's position. "Not helping that you've half of WolfZord's innards out to make your gadget, whatever it is, reality mapper thing." 

"Gotta have the tech from the holographic imager. You've flown instrument blind before," Billy replied absently, drawing back and twisting the last connection to the power source in place. "Got it. Here we go." 

The Blue Wolf Ninjetti flipped a switch and a three-dimensional pattern appeared in the air above the jury-rigged device, sparkling with lights and overlaying the holographic representations of the planets. 

Skye risked a glance behind him. "Lovely, sparkly, pretty. What the hell does it do?" he wondered aloud as he banked the Zord hard right to avoid potential destruction. 

"Illustrate concentrations of reality. Even inactive, the sort of impact a substance that focussed reality would have a significant effect on normal reality." Billy said, frowning as he scrutinised the holographic map of reality nodes. 

Skye nodded and looked again quickly. "Without being rude, I see lots of sparkly lights, but nothing that sticks out from the rest of it, not really." 

"You're right." Billy sighed to himself. Had he spent all that time on NOTHING? "I was SURE it would be obvious. I'll just have to search the hot spots." 

"Could you do it quickly?" Skye replied anxiously as he began to sweat a little under the pressure. How Rocky was managing to fight and retain his communications focus he didn't know. "Only things are, um, getting out of hand here." 

The screen ran up a list, and it was fortunate that it was alphabetical as Billy immediately paused over one entry. "Angel Grove, California. I wonder …" 

Was it really that much of a coincidence? Was THAT why Zordon's base was there? Why all the villains seemed drawn to conquer there first rather than somewhere actually politically important? 

And if he could come to this conclusion, then so would they. 

_"Cestro? Cestro!"_ he called urgently through the Ninjetti link. 

_"I am here,"_ Cestro responded calmly. _"What is it, Billy?"_

_"I've hooked up a reality mapper looking for that Orb,"_ he explained quickly. _"And Angel Grove shows up as a hot spot. The moment they realise, they'll be coming after you al… all our families, our home."_

Damn, but that brought it home. That familiar feeling he got when a monster alert went off in the early years and the danger was immediate, up close and personal, threatening all they held dear. 

_"I will prepare for battle immediately,"_ the Aquitian responded, still sounding calm. Billy wished he felt as composed as Cestro seemed to be. 

_"We'll be there as soon as we can, but we can't leave Rocky up here until someone covers him."_ Billy promised, itching to get there. _"Kim! We could use some support here!"_

_"Give me a moment, and I'll be there,"_ came the response, from the Pink Crane Master Ninjetti. _"The Nid-hi are swarming all over the place up here, how Tommy and the others are stopping them from completely breaking the line I don't know. Tanya is going to be like the world champion of jigsaw puzzles by the end of this."_

The tone was familiar, and Billy felt himself smile a little. _"And not even a stereo in sight."_

_"I heard that!"_ Kim retorted _"Consider yourself covered, now go and do whatever it is you have to do and get your tail down to Earth!"_

Skye laughed to himself, a strange sound in the grimness of battle and Billy responded with a _"Thanks, Kim!"_ as they turned and headed toward home.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


Rita muttered under her breath, drawing on her ages-old powers, invoking her desires into the twisted black magic that had taken her this far. The VisionFire dust lay in her hand, a corrupted version of the Ninjetti power, and focusing, she flung it into her consecrated black flame. A remarkably similar image appeared to that currently shimmering in the WolfZord and she cackled. "Ha! Follows the Magick lines of power I mapped not long after we first arrived." She crowed and then paused. "And the Magick reservoir at Angel Grove was unusually strong. If we had taken there, we would have been unassailable. I wonder … Zedd!" The last was a screech that demanded attention. 

"What is it? I'm watching half our armies kick the daylights out of that annoying Red Ranger … Ninjetti … whatever," Zedd grouched. 

"I think it's at Angel Grove," Rita interrupted. "The Rangers' home base. Makes sense, doesn't it?" 

Zedd paused, the reasoning flowing through his twisted mind all too easily. "It does indeed. Hmmm. Goldar!" 

"My liege?" There was the sound of explosions in the background as Goldar's gruff voice came over the communications link. 

"Finish off that Red Ranger, then join us at Angel Grove. We have business there." Lord Zedd smiled and then turned to see Rita talking to Master Vile on screen and groaned. 

When she was done, he complained loudly. "Why did you tell HIM?" 

"Because he has the resources to bust that two-bit town wide open, and we don't," Rita said, picking up her staff. "Besides, we're FAMILY." 

Zedd shook his head. "And that would be reason enough for most to stab each other in the back." He sighed. Try as he might, he'd never been able to get Rita to shake her family connections and loyalties. Well, he guessed all of them had at least one vice. 

"Lock co-ordinates Angel Grove," he ordered, turning his back on a very pleasing battle in search of the greatest of prizes. They all had to make sacrifices for Power after all.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


_"Zedd's breaking formations, Jason,"_ Rocky informed him through the link, his mental tone tinged with alarm. _"He appears to be heading toward Angel Grove!"_

The Red Lion Ninjetti swore_. "I've got Goldar and a host of fighters all over me! I can't get out!"_

_"The Power Chamber is dealing with it, I hope, and Billy is coming down,_" Rocky informed him, receiving confirmation from Justin. _"But that means you are on your own."_

Jason glared at his enemy out of LionZord's cockpit _"That's just fine. Just how I want it."_

_"Watch yourself, Jase,"_ Rocky said anxiously. _"Goldar is a tough one."_

_"Don't worry, no reject from the Wizard of Oz on steroids is going to get me."_ Jason reassured, flexing LionZord's Laserclaws in preparation to make a leap. _"I'll get to Angel Grove as soon as I can!"_   
  
  
  


_***_

  
  
  
  


A sight that had not been seen in Angel Grove for some time appeared via live feed on the local news. Master Vile had obliged Rita's request by sending down some monsters to rampage randomly as a distraction, and the once nearly daily occurrence of strange misshapen creatures trampling through the city streets was happening again. Fortunately there was at least SOMEONE to fight them off. 

"Yeeeehaw!" Justin was in warrior mode and exploring the phenomenal jumps his DolphinZord could do. The monster he was facing was not at all impressed when he caught it around the back of the head. "Stupid thing." He shook his head and thwapped it neatly with his trident and then bust it apart completely with a SonarBoom. 

"I think whatshisname … Finster's oven is in need of an overhaul. Definitely undercooked efforts," Justin muttered and turned "On to the next one. Cestro, how are you doing?" 

"I am despatching the enemy with comparative ease," came the calm response with only a faint hint of anxiety, as Cestro was experienced enough to know when he was dealing with cannon fodder. "This concerns me. The real focus of their attack is yet to come and we are being diverted." 

"Billy's on his way," Justin reassured. "We have some backup coming." 

"Indeed," Cestro admitted. "We must not let them get to our base of operations." 

"That goes without saying," Justin replied. "Billy! Get yourself down here pronto." 

"On our way," Billy answered as WolfZord plummeted through the yawning void of space. 

"I don't see how this fits with Dulcea's bit of the sacred knowledge," Skye said again as they entered Earth atmosphere with a familiar re-entry judder. _"'And it shall be hidden in the place where none shall look but without it none shall see to seek.' _What does that have to do with Angel Grove?" 

Billy shook his head. "I don't know. It doesn't come together, I admit it, but the main reason we are going there is because THEY don't know it doesn't fit. And if I saw this information and had the same history that we all do, I would come to the conclusion that this is the place to start looking." 

"Readouts picking up monster activity," Skye confirmed as images and readouts flicked up with a variety of data. 

"Ah, but where are the real players?" Billy murmured. "There we go. Rita and Zedd trying to get the one up on their allies. You can always rely on them to try a double-cross." What was more concerning was the way they were hoving in above the Power Chamber and the town. 

_Home … my home._

After all their time wandering in space, the poignancy of returning to home had been nearly overwhelming. Billy felt he hadn't understood what people meant by having roots somewhere until he had left, and then returned. There was a physical pull to his home and a desperate need to preserve it. Rationalising it and finding altruistic reason were neither here nor there, there were memories and parts of himself invested in every part of Angel Grove and he wasn't going to allow them to be destroyed. 

"My home has a guard dog and he's got sharp teeth," he said aloud and without prompting Skye gripped his seat as the attack acceleration punched in and they dived at Rita and Zedd to thwart their attack.   
  
  


*** 

  
  


The Darkness Visible sighed with impatience. A part of his complex being cautioned him that he had waited too long to jeopardise things with hasty actions, but another chafed at the delay. Eons, and he was close enough to touch victory. Petty battles raging around him, his creatures fighting for him were merely a distraction. By all means, if they succeeded he would reward them. Give them a planet. What was a planet but a speck of dust in the universe? Ha. Or even a galaxy. He would have powers not even the gods dreamed of, powers that transcended natural Laws. All he needed was the final bit of information, the bit that, for all his knowledge and vast experience, he could not retrieve himself. Finally he would have infinite power in the most literal interpretation of the phrase and be truly eternal. The reign of order would spring from his mind and all that was imperfect and unfitting would be purged. Pleasant thoughts indeed. There was no thought that failure was possible, he had pre-empted EVERYTHING thanks to their foolish reliance on Prophecy. It was like a complex game of chess where his opponent had thoughtfully provided him with a list and sequence of the moves he was going to make. That was a delightful irony and he laughed to himself as he awaited the final moves in his end game.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"What do you MEAN there's no record of this thing?" The President of the United States roared, perspiring a little as he looked at the counter ticking down in the bombproof shielding they had put around it. "You have complete access to ALL databases – total clearance!" 

"Nothing matches this search parameter, sir." The nervous researcher nearly dropped his printouts."These are the nearest files and possible correlations." 

"Jesus." The President grabbed them. "Well, it's something. Christ knows if it will be enough." 

"Maybe if we had more time ..." The researcher stammered as both of them turned to see the bomb count down the final ten seconds, hypnotised into a paralysis by its metronome tick. 

A muted pop that was oddly anticlimactic made them both jump. "Time is not something we have left," the President said, sitting down heavily. 

The screen flicked on around them. "Like my alarm clock, Mr President?" Divatox laughed at his ashen expression. "Let's see how you've done on giving millions of your precious citizens a death row pardon, shall we?" She had been in earth territories long enough to know how to twist the knife. "Where is the Orb?" 

The President shuffled the papers frantically. "We have a selection of possible … highly probable targets," he began hastily. 

Divatox glared and her fingers toyed with a control. "Do you have the Orb there?" 

"Well ... no ... not actually HERE as such." The man tried to cover his panic. "But we have information that might tell you where it is, and surely we can negotiate." 

"Enough! You think you are ruthless, you people of Earth. You think you know of Power and its uses. Political Children! Stupid political children, all of you! Well ... children who don't do exactly as they are told get punished." Divatox smiled with venomous sweetness. "Say goodbye to your population ... Mr President." 

And she pressed the button with as little pang of conscience as if it was a toy. 

Above the capital city the missiles with their deadly payload exploded, sending an obnoxious purple toxic nerve gas cascading across the city. Divatox helpfully relayeda live broadcast of this across the world. 

"People of Earth." And in some strange way Divatox managed to imply the word 'scum' in her address. "We've asked nicely for the Orb, we made a deal with your Leader to get it back, and you'll be unsurprised to note he couldn't deliver on his promises." She gave a rather disturbing, vindictive smile. 

"Politicians, hey? Well, I DO deliver on my promises, just as I promised to gas the whole of your capital city here if your President did not produce the Orb." 

The picture lingered on random shots of people dropping in paroxysms of agony in the streets, chaos and mayhem. 

"I'll make you all another promise. Every hour until the Orb is delivered to me I will depopulate another major city picked at random around the world." The Space Pirate smiled sweetly, but there was a threat on the edges of those words like blood fresh on a blade. 

"Oh dear god." Diane Scott could not believe what she was seeing. "This CAN'T be true. There has to be some way ... somehow." She looked around at the others in the Power Chamber. "They have to stop this!" 

"How?" Adam's father said, fixated on the pictures with a grim focus. "How can you stop a nerve gas? There's no way …" 

"Not for us, maybe, but what about them?" she said, gesturing skyward. They all knew whom she meant, but they had no answers for her. 

Rocky however was already on it, the moment the broadcast began. *_Think laterally,*_ he urged himself. *_Think resources, think potentials…*_

Ordinary Ninjetti? Probably not. Master Ninjetti? Possible in terms of Power. Mentally he reviewed the Master Ninjetti and toyed for a moment with getting Delphine to somehow suck the gas away, but where would it go and the tornado required would level the place … no …. 

His eyes widened suddenly and he sat up. _"Zack! Zack, get your mongoose butt down to DC IMMEDIATELY!"_

_"I hear and obey," _Zack quipped. _"What's going on down there?"_

_"Nerve Gas."_ Rocky sent over the link through gritted teeth. That was sheer terrorism, the scenes going on as Divatox made her speech. _"Hurry, Zack, they haven't got very long!"_

_"Rocky man, I don't know if I can DO anything,"_ Zack's voice sounded worried. 

_"At least we can saywe have tried,"_ Rocky replied quietly. _"Could you live with standing by on your conscience?"_

_"No, I couldn't."_ There was no trace of lightheartedness in Zack's voice now. _"If there's a way …"_

The Black Mongoose Zord arced through the atmosphere, through the heart of the noxious purple cloud, and landed in the midst of the chaos that had been a city, minutes before. 

He exited the Zord and stood, rage and anger that were alien to his soul finding him. He was safe suited up like this, the Glyph Sigel on his chest sparkling jet black. Immunity … he had the Master Power of Immunity … but what did that mean? That he could survive a poison? 

His mind flashed suddenly back to a date with Aisha where they discussed her childhood and her attempts to save the wildlife where she lived. 

It seemed incongruous until a key phrase was remembered. 

"You can produce an anti-toxin out of the poison," she said when they had been trying to find the source of what seemed to be poisoning the animals. "And then use that as a catalyst to neutralise the rest." 

Suddenly it seemed all too obvious what he had to do. 

"Oh man, I must be nuts," he murmured aloud and grasped his helmet carefully. 

"Zack, what are you doing?" Rocky sounded anxious. "ZACK!" 

His mongoose spirit chittered anxiously. _"One does not invite the bite of the cobra ..."_

_"Unless it is to save those you protect," _Zack replied and spoke aloud. "Getting some fresh air, Rocko," as the helmet was removed, leaving him exposed to the deadly atmosphere. He tried not to breathe, but in the end he gulped the foul air into his lungs, feeling it sting and burn. 

A trembling hand went to his glyph of power as he struggled through spasming lungs to say the words. "Master … Power …" a spate of whooping coughs robbed him of voice, but he rallied. "Master … Power Sigel!" and he felt a rush inwards, a cleansing, a fire burning and screaming through his blood, hunting down each molecule of poison and with great effort, he TURNED the flow of that energy and sent it out … sent it away, into the sky, into the city, making them a part of his body that had to be cleansed of poison. He collapsed to his knees, and then to his side rolling to lie out flat there on the road, his black Ninjetti Master Gylph gleaming and pulsing out his channelled spirit energy. 

_"Delphine! Delphine, do you read me?"_ Rocky was panicking … he could feel an ebbing away in his mind where Zack should be. _"You done over there? Zack needs help!"_

_"What the hell is he doing?" _That was Tommy cutting in, sensing something of Rocky's panic. 

_"I think he's trying to stop the nerve gas,"_ Rocky explained, feeling terribly guilty. 

_"How?"_ The White Falcon Ninjetti was terse and to the point. 

_"He's taken his helmet off and invoked his Master Power - in the middle of the affected area!"_

_"Oh man!"_ Tommy groaned. _"Is he managing it?"_

_"Difficult to tell,"_ Rocky said helplessly. 

_"I will assist and stop Divatox from her destructive ways,"_ Delphine said sounding weary from her prolonged battle over Europe. _"I will be within range momentarily."_ But they were all aware it would probably not be soon enough to stop Divatox from trying again. 

Fire in the blood, that's what it was, pushing out. Toxins clashed with the Master Power of Immunity and fought a battle no less epic than the one occurring in space. 

As Zack lay there on the warm road, chest heaving, a darkness descended, shadows encroaching around his vision as he stared up at the sky and PUSHED hard at the limits of his power. 

_Not enough. Not enough ..._

And there – a stillness inside of him, the depth of the Black Power offering that which only the Black could … the bargain. 

_"There are limits even with the Master Power,"_ his mongoose spirit said sadly as not all the gas was neutralised_. "You stand on the threshold. This is as far as you can go…"_

Zack felt the choking air, the knowledge in him that he could step back now and live or go on and die. And what would dying profit if nothing more was gained …? 

But the Power of the Black was potential. Yes, he had spoken to Adam; he had seen it in the awakening of himself to his Ninjetti power. The potential to change the limits of things. God help him. 

What was to stop this happening again? What was to stop them destroying the Earth with biological weapons, poisons, anything? Nothing. Nothing at all. 

A press of a button and all the might of the Ninjetti and their lives rendered into chaos and death. 

Zack lay on the tarmac of the street, feeling its solidity, familiarity beneath questing fingers and hated himself because he there was no way he could avoid the question, or worse still, the answer. 

**_Could I stop that? Could I make a difference?_**

And a deeper voice inside, a deeper and more fundamental harmonic resonated through him in answer, offering the double-edged sword of its potential. It would give whilst taking away. 

**_Yes. Choose._**

And the options were then so obvious … so obvious … but no less hard for all that. 

"I'm so sorry, Aisha," he whispered through strained breath from ravaged lungs, his decision made. "So little time we had ... so little ... But, my love ... Zack Taylor has the last laugh …" 

The Master Power gathered in him and his whole body began to glow brighter and brighter, starting to stream up into the sky, dissolving his thought and mortality into the light born of the Black. 

And where she lay wounded and unconscious in Moonbase, a tear ran down Aisha's cheek, its glistening trail marking the path of Zachary Taylor's final dance through the skies of Earth.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"ZACK!" It was Skye, sensitive to the burning place in his mind that responded to his passing. 

"No! Zack, please … no!" he moaned in desperation 

Billy jumped, startled, and turned. "What? WHAT!?" 

"He's, oh god, he's going to …" Skye looked at Billy, his eyes brimming suddenly. "He's done it, he's …" The artist crumpled inwards, unable to finish. 

"No." Billy felt the moment crystallise around him, locking him in place despite their own danger. "No, he can't, you ... No, there has to be ..." 

"He's dead," Skye said, swallowing and looking at Billy with anxious concern mixed with grief. "I'm sorry … if only ..." He choked off the rest of the sentence. It was his own hell that he knew his life could possibly save others if and when it was used. 

"Why … why?!" Billy said angrily, not understanding what had happened or what had been gained by Zack using his life to fuel his Master Power. 

Skye nodded to the monitor where Divatox released another salvo of deadly nerve weapons and they exploded high in the air. There was a brief sparkle of energy around the lurid gas and it turned black and then faded, neutralised immediately. 

"Oh Zack." Billy was white with grief and shock. Gone. His friend, who could make them all laugh; who could show them how to survive the emotional shocks over what they did with such ease that they barely noticed, was gone. Zack, whom he had played with when they moved to Angel Grove, who had been part of who he was, part of his life, somewhere in his memories and now… 

Now memories were the only place he would ever be.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


They mourned in their own ways. Particularly the original rangers. 

Trini's calm became a deadly weapon, a Tiger dance of destruction seeking to lose the pain in battle. She and Jason, they'd spent so much time with him. Unbidden, memories of Zack rose before her sight as she fought, when for all her reserve she had laughed and laughed until she was nearly sick. She hated the memories, hated them because they told her what she wanted to deny; this was real, he had died, he was gone and to say he did for a greater good seemed right now just words as empty as the void they battled in. 

Mind to mind they reached, all of them, drawing comfort from each other when they could not find it in themselves, soothing the tortured conscience of Rocky for sending him to that place where he breathed his last, comforting those who felt responsibility and turning what had happened into their best motivation to win, rather than give up ... as so many of the other surviving Ninjetti had done. If he could give his all, then so would they.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Lillian DeSantos sighed. Her heart went out to the Taylors, but what else could they say? Zack's mother was breaking her heart in one of the rooms, being comforted by Ishala. Now there was a woman whom she could respect, she had a calm authority in her thatmade everyone around her listen and defer to her judgment. It seemed hard to swallow, but they had problems enough that grieving would have to wait. She knew that … when she had lost Ricardo, her grieving had to wait for the sake of the children. Sometimes she wondered if she had ever let herself really let go. But there was one thing she knew, and that was the Taylors would not be the only ones mourning if they did not focus now. The other adults in the Power chamber were deathly pale and hushed as if only now realising this was not a game their children were playing. The ground rumbled unexpectedly and Lillian steadied herself before calling out. 

"Come on, people, they need us! Let's get some help for them all … hmm? Hank, get hold of the President. If there is one thing I will do is tell him EXACTLY why he is still breathing, my gift to one of our brave children." Her eyes were dark and fiery with emotion. 

She fiddled with a toggle button and spoke selfconsciously. "Rockino? Rocky, you hear me?" 

"Yes, Mama." Rocky's voice held that tight strained pitch of someone trying hard not to cry. 

"You have to concentrate on what you are doing, love. For the sake of everyone. They are relying on you." A Mother's way of finding the buttons to push, there was no one else who could do it with the same skill. "Tell us what is happening, and we will try and help." 

There was a pause and the attempt at a factual report came through. "Rita, Zedd and Master Vile are targeting Angel Grove, Billy and Cestro are trying to stop them. Divatox is still around DC. Jason is fighting an army on his own. Delphine was meant to be backing him up, but is instead now trying to stop Divatox. The Allies' fleet headed by Phantom is battling against Dark Spectre's fleet, but taking heavy damage. Tommy is leading the assault there, and Kim is backing me up here." Dry facts. Dry and lifeless and he knew it, but he found it hard to just bounce back from this. Aisha had lost Zack, he could lose Kat or any of them lose each other if they indeed survived at all. It was a thought they had all tried to ignore as the war swept them into its embrace. It couldn't be ignored any longer. The only thing he could do was the best he could because if that weren't good enough there would be nothing else he could do anyway, and that meant not moping around. The others were relying on him. 

"Justin, see if you can help blindside the force on Jason." He spoke with more authority and focus. "We have two Master Ninjetti covering Angel Grove as it is. When you are done, hightail it to back up Delphine." His voice and presence through the link grew stronger and Lillian DeSantos nodded in approval, though she didn't say any more. There was a time for sympathy and that would be later, when he had regained that respect for himself. He wasn't her baby anymore, for all that she wanted to protect him. 

"Now … let's have a word with Mr President," she said, all but cracking her knuckles in preparation.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  


"Will you hurry up and crack open that fault line!" Rita paced up and down. 

"I have to find the right area, or we will destroy what we are looking for," Zedd replied irritably. 

"You think it can be destroyed? Ha!" Rita muttered to herself, wondering at his ignorance. 

"Listen woman, you want to take that chance?" Zedd growled as he pinpointed the spot. "Now here, tell your father to hit the fault line here and it should peel the ground open all the way for about 20 miles." 

Rita rolled her eyes at that and relayed the message to Master Vile. "Zedd says here, father." She transmitted the information. 

"Very well, be prepared to take the prize and don't let that pirate snatch it," she was cautioned as WolfZord's first attack thundered onto the hull of their ship. 

"Blasted Blue Ranger. I remember that Zord, damn thing jumping everywhere." Zedd settled himself. "Fire at Will! And for once I really mean at Will. Oh shut up, Rito!" he said exasperatedly at his brother-in-law's infantile hysterics. 

"Sorry, Edd," the walking skeleton said flippantly. 

"Tell me again why he's here?" Zedd asked the room in general and then staggered as the ship rocked again from WolfZord's second attack. 

"I think father was hoping he might get killed," Rita said casually. 

"On that I can agree with him." Zedd sighed. "Rito, get outside and distract that Ninjetti from what Master Vile is up to." 

"Happy to oblige, Zeddy old boy." Rito flipped a salute and disappeared outside to thump to the ground. 

"You or me?" Zedd asked, in a foul mood now. 

"I will." Rita replied, patting him on the arm. "Magic Wand, make my BROTHER GROW!" 

The burst of magical energy swelled Rito to monstrous size and he danced with glee, thundering on the desert floor. 

"You should have said grow up instead of just grow," Zedd commented to Rita, watching his antics with disgust. "It will be a miracle if he can do anything." 

"He just has to stand there, wave his sword around and look stupid," Rita reassured. 

Zedd snorted. "Now for that he is IDEALLY qualified."   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"Rito?" Billy looked at the immense apparition. Skye flinched back a little. 

"He dangerous?" he asked, not as used to seeing massive monster forms spring out of nowhere as Billy appeared to be. 

"Comparatively no ... which means that either Zedd and Rita don't care if we defend this spot of Angel Grove, or ..." Billy flinched as their Zord was tossed around by Zedd and Rita's ship opening fire from one side and Rito from the other. "A trap! Damn!" 

_"Billy, do you need assistance?"_ Cestro queried across the link. 

_"No … that's what they want us to do."_ The besieged Blue Wolf Ninjetti tried to fight his way out of the corner they were in. "Focus on Master Vile. He's the one working on something!" 

_"I concur."_ And Cestro swung out to intercept Master Vile and whatever plan he was trying to implement.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


_*On the face of it,*_ Justin thought as he sped towards helping Jason, *_an aerial army against one Zord was logically a terminal situation for the Red Lion Ninjetti.*_

And yet as he approached, the battle on screen reminded him of nothing as much as some space invader computer game, with hordes of mind-numbingly stupid craft pitting themselves against a skilled player. 

Boom … Boom … Boom … one after another, the drones exploded as the RedLion Zord twisted and turned. The only one giving him any trouble was Goldar in Cyclopsis. Even Justin had heard about that. Tommy had told him, not to start off with, but later; as if he had been driven to confess to every new member the saga of his misdeeds as the Evil Green Ranger. Tanya, Adam and Rocky had heard it in their time, and he had eventually been let in on the secret. The thing that seemed to give Tommy the most trouble was the way he had left Jason powerless to be toyed with by Goldar in the Dark Dimensions, and the way he had nearly killed him in that same place. But even as a later comer to the Powers, Justin knew that there would be a grudge between the primate warrior and Jason and he would not be thanked for interfering there. So, to mop up the petty distractions then. The DolphinZord leapt into the fray and took on all the drone fighters with his usual enthusiasm. 

_"Flipper to the rescue!" _Justin called out, the words caution and danger meaning practically nothing to him. _"Wooooooohoooo!"_

Jason managed to retain his focus and was not sure whether to be grateful or anxious at the help that had arrived. 

_"Watch yourself, Justin,"_ Jason warned as he faced up against the immensity of Cyclopsis. This thing had taken out their original zords … all of them! 

_"I'll just keep the annoyances off of you,"_ Justin said airily. _"You deal with Goldar."_

Jason wished he had the confidence that Justin seemed to at the moment. But then, they had when they were his age and started off as the Power Rangers. If they knew, really knew what it would entail he didn't doubt that they would have run away screaming at the thought. But they had been teenagers and believed that they were immortal and that there was nothing they couldn't handle. Maybe that had been the secret to why they won over and over despite the odds against them. None of then truly believed they could be beaten. Well then, the Power of positive thinking would aid him again. He KNEW he could beat Goldar. They had before, and he would again. 

"Goldar, your time is over. I will defeat you, we both know that." 

"I am a warrior of warriors in my race!" Goldar replied in his growling voice. "I have defeated all of my other rivals who were more worthy adversaries than you, human." 

"And yet, I'm still alive. Can't help but think there is a gap in your logic there," Jason retaliated. "LionClaws!" 

A swift shredding attack with the searing fire of the LionZord's laser claws and chunks of Cyclopsis ripped away, leaving gaping metallic wounds. The bone-jarring thud he received in return bounced him away, but like most cats, LionZord had excellent balance and managed to right itself before it went into a tumble. 

"We will defeat you! I will triumph!" Goldar roared, getting frustrated. He remembered the Red Ranger as being more impulsive, more liable to hasty errors and anger. He had counted on those flaws. 

"Wake me up when you start saying something new," Jason gritted out as he blurred with speed and literally clambered up Cyclopsis to attack the head module. 

Goldar flailed around, the comparative sizes making it look ridiculous, but Cyclopsis sparked and flames appeared as one by one his systems failed. He ejected, burnished wings gleaming in the air as he caught the laden smoke to drift to the ground. The winged primate rolled and stood, a tiny figure silhouetted against the flaming carcass. He roared with chagrin and whirled his mighty sword above his head in a traditional challenge. 

"I challenge you, Red Ranger … it's personal between us. Come and fight, coward! Come and FIGHT!" 

Instincts burned in Jason to fight, to take the challenge. _Defend your territory, _spoke the voice of the lionspirit. _It is right to do so. This one has challenged you in the past, you have a personal grudge against him, fight him strength to strength, prove yourself victorious…_

Jason paused. 

_"Go on Jase, I'll cover for you,"_ Justin encouraged, wondering why he hesitated. Surely he wouldn't pass up this opportunity? Who would? 

Jason looked up at the sky. Above them his friends fought in the void of space, over their homes, over everywhere. Dulcea fought there for something important. 

"No. Personal is not the always same as important" Jason said, feeling a rightness in himself that quenched the flames calling for vengeance and retribution. "Besides, Goldar … what would it prove? I know I have beaten you. It is only you who cannot accept the obvious and I will not be responsible for your ignorance. I do not waste time on matters that are of no real consequence." 

With that the RedLion Zord turned and knowing it was the most crushing thing he could have done to his opponent, Jason moved on, leaving Goldar stranded in the desert, raging impotently at the disappearing Zord … surrounded by the hulking wreckage of his own.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


_"Rocky ... any time any of our HomeGuard want to come up the front lines, we could REALLY use the support,_" Tommy spoke through the link desperately. The Ninjetti were hard pressed. Attack and counter attack cycled in a ceaseless flow of destruction, and each time it was harder to regroup and attack. Tanya's ability to trigger megazord sequences was proving invaluable, but they were slower than the single Zord attacks. Tactics spun in his mind as he constantly searched for the weak spot he knew they had to have, that he HOPED the enemy actually had. 

_"They have their hands full, Tommy,_" Rocky replied, busy trying to defend himself and Moonbase. There were some attacks being directed at their depot there as well, and besides it being a strategic necessity, Kat was down there. _"Billy and Cestro are hard pressed themselves, and I cannot get back up to them."_

"_Angel Grove is under attack?"_ Tommy asked, feeling his anxiety climb suddenly. 

_"Yes. Rita and Zedd and Master Vile."_ And if he was right, soon to be Divatox as well as the Space Pirate appeared to be fleeing from Delphine towards that area. 

_"Man … keep that quiet for now, Rocky; I can't afford to lose any support out here on the lines."_ Tommy responded with natural authority, considering the impact of the news on the Earth rangers especially. 

_" I know."_ Rocky had already considered that fact, the moment he felt the urge himself, to abandon his post and rush to protect his parents and home. _"I'll keep it under wraps."_

_"Right. God, I hope Billy comes up with a plan soon, we can't just keep fighting with no real direction,"_ Tommy said, sounding weary now. 

_"He's never let us down before,"_ Rocky stated firmly, not even allowing the thought of 'there's always a first time' to enter his mind. 

Plans at this precise moment were not high on Billy's agenda. Stopping Rita and Zedd's mother ship and Rito as well from bouncing them again, Zord and all, against the fastness that contained the Power Chamber was currently prioritising itself swiftly to the top of the list. 

"You okay?" he asked his co-pilot, trying to get WolfZord on its feet as fast as possible. 

"Fine." Skye's voice sounded a little shaky; he yelped as they were slammed back again and he was snapped out of his seat once more. He could be heard muttering many oaths under his breath. 

Billy retaliated with a howling blast that enabled them to get back up and then frantically rerouted systems to get their equipment on line. "Oh no," he groaned under his breath. "More company. Just what we need!" 

Divatox was heading their way to join the party.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"If you saw Master Vile's ship lock onto those co-ordinates, why didn't you tell me immediately!" Divatox raged as they sped towards Angel Grove. "Rita and Zedd are nearly as stupid as you, but I've never known Master Vile move unless he was sure of something!" 

"I'm sorry, Auntie D, you told me to let you concentrate on the Ninjetti!" Elgar tried to defend himself. 

The Space Pirate cursed and pushed up the speed to try and close the gap as Master Vile started to reach the source of the apparent reality focus by the simple expedient of trying to crack the Earth apart.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Hank Cranston steadied himself on the console in the Power Chamber. "We are experiencing Earthquake effects here, everyone," he called out urgently. "This is not getting any better. Whatever he is doing is setting off seismic disturbances all along the local faults." 

"Translation ... the ground is rippling like water from here right down into Angel Grove," Trini's father interrupted, unconsciously mimicking the role of his daughter in relation to Hank's son. 

"And it's getting worse." 

The strangest thing was the sound. Earthquakes, it seemed, roared – growing louder in angry protest to being hit with pulse weapons. Items began to shimmy from surfaces, clattering to the ground, heavier unsecured objects beginning to bounce as the very ground bucked and twisted in response to the attack. 

"Everyone! Earthquake drill!" Jason's father yelled above the growing panic. "Away from anything that might fall on you … go! Go!" 

Sparks flew and smoke issued from tortured consoles as they tried evacuating. "Son, we're having … to …" There was a crackle and a hiss as the normal communications failed them, and Jason called "Dad? Say again?! Your transmission broke up - DAD?" 

_"Normal communications down!"_ Rocky reported. "_That has dropped out of the loop completely – Earthquake, Jase."_

_"A Vile-quake, more like."_ Jason pushed LionZord to full speed to get there in time. "We can't allow that in Angel Grove!" Find a solution, find a quick solution. "Cestro? Your Master Power? Can it stop them destroying our base and Angel Grove?" he said, suddenly remembering the irony of the Aquitian holding the Power of Earth. 

It was Zack who pointed that out, wasn't it? And for a moment there was an overwhelming stinging sensation in his eyes as tears fought to be shed in private. 

_"I am unaware of my limitations in this regard, but it is imperative that I try,"_ Cestro announced over the Ninjetti link. _"We cannot afford to lose our base or the Council of the Wise."_

_*Or our home,*_ Jason added privately to himself. _"Thank you. We'll deal with Vile when we get there. It will not be long."_

_"I hope not. Billy is hard pressed and requires assistance."_ Cestro replied calmly. _"Teleporting to ground level now."_

And with that he ceased communication, leaving Jason in charge of trying to work out how to back up Billy, take out the immediate threats and protect their home with their limited resources.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"Lateral stabilizers are ... wonky," Skye reported through a bit of a fuzzy head. Blood trickled from a cut, but he had no time to stop it right now. "The bad news is they are coming about to kick our butt again, the good news is that Jason is about to haul us out of the fire." 

"Wonky by how many degrees?" Billy asked, struggling to get WolfZord to right itself. 

"For god's sake!" Skye exclaimed. "What type of a question is that?" He nearly started laughing. "Off normal yaw to the tune of 34 degrees." 

_*Target lock … target lock.*_ The computer alarm warned over the sounds of battle 

"Evade, evade!" Billy twisted the controls, but they still took enough of the hit to send them spinning dizzily into the ground with an almighty thump, which tossed them around like beans in a tin. 

"Billy?! God! That wasn't good. Billy?" Jason called out, sweeping in overhead "Justin? You still there? Take Rito and I'll handle Zedd. Delphine, you make sure that Divatox stands clear. Gotta give Billy time to recover." 

Assuming of course that he could. Wouldn't that just take the biscuit? All their careful planning and their main weapon was taken out before they had a chance to do anything. Jason's eyes widened in horror at his thoughts. So cold and callous they seemed, defending themselves from more hurt. He pushed them away and launched into the fray, trying to warm himself with the heat of battle.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"Nearly there … nearly there," Master Vile exclaimed gleefully. "If I should get the Orb, not even the Darkness Visible could stand against me!" 

"Reality signature exposed," the computer reported as with a roar of protest the Earth shook and split apart, sending fissures like deadly serpents striking outwards in all directions. The main one, to Master Vile's satisfaction, seemed to speed directly towards the population centre of Angel Grove. "Serves them right! Now … let's get the Orb!" He took his battleship closer to the heaving ground, only then noticing the unsteady blue-clad figure below. 

Cestro considered he might as well have been on Aquitar and trying to walk on water for the unsteadiness of the ground beneath him. It was impossible to do anything but stumble and then crawl unsteadily. As the ground ripped he realised immediately the probable consequences, managed to get to his feet carefully and touched his Master Glyph. 

"Master Power Erda!" 

Immediately the energies in the Earth were apparent to him as if they were blood in his own veins. The unbelievable energies in the quake met and were absorbed by him, as he strained to hold the fissures from their lightning expansion. In his mind he knew that if the Rangers of Earth's families and homes were destroyed, then they would falter. With so much at stake and all of them so key to events, it could mean the end of their resistance to this terrible invasion. 

He felt like the twisting was inside of him, that every cell and molecule of his being was being saturated beyond its capacity, wanting to fly apart unless he could find some way to be rid of this energy. However, Cestro was not a Blue Ranger for nothing. Second nature to him were the elemental rules of physics ... transformation of energy. Kinetic energy passed into a transformer, that of himself, could be redirected, but redirected where? He looked up at Master Vile's battle craft and managed a slight smile. "There ..." and raised his hands to loosen the force the villain had released, back at him but magnified a thousandfold. 

"Nearly there, nearly there," Master Vile crooned to himself. "Oh yes, bring it up." Never in his very long life had he felt such excitement and trembling anticipation. "Analyse …!" he demanded of the probes. "Analyse and report NOW!" 

There was a heart-stopping pause. "Reality node caused by modified Zeo crystal energies. Artefact. Zeo Crystal cluster." 

"Zeo … Zeo Crystal?!" Master Vile was incredulous. "WHERE is the ORB!? " He stabbed a finger on the communications channel to hurl abuse at Rita and Zedd when out of nowhere his Battleship was struck with the channelled energy of the very earthquake he had initiated. He was stunned into silence and then roared with protest and outrage as his ship imploded and writhed around him, trapping him in a prison of twisted metal and death.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  


Cestro cried out as the energies tore through him, pain reflecting the agonies of the Earth until they stilled, leaving him a gasping, exhausted wreck in the now quiet desert, with his fallen enemy jutting out of the chasm that was his own handiwork and inadvertent grave. 

"Vile," he gasped. "Vile ... destroyed. Orb ... not found." Then he dropped slowly to his knees and pitched forward to lie still in the drifting dust.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  


"Polluter of Waters!" Delphine exclaimed in one of the Aquitians' worst insults directed at Divatox. "You shall not pass." 

"And a descendant of a kipper is going to stop me? Think again, fish-girl," Divatox sneered. "You don't stand a chance." 

"You will not take the Orb," Delphine said firmly, trying to intercept the Space Sub. 

"Oh, so it IS here, is it? " Divatox exulted. "Well done, my little walking sushi bar, you've just condemned this two bit … habitation of vermin to extinction." She would quite cheerfully level this place just for old times' sake. 

What was that? Vile was destroyed? Well, that made the race that much more interesting. 

"I will have it," she said aloud. "Then I won't need anyone to get me the Power I need." She smiled behind her mask. "And then, sister Dimitria, there will be answers, MY answers and no MORE of your infernal questions!" With a fervour born of a gnawing need for triumph, Divatox swung in to attack Angel Grove with the battle frenzy of a ravening pirate horde.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"You alright there, Billy? Billy, come on man, answer me?" The familiar voice persisted despite his attempts to remain in the realms of blissful unconsciousness. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti groaned. His leg hurt with a dull worrying ache, but was being drowned out by the crawling lights in front of his eyes. Initially he thought he was blind or something. There had been an explosion, a bright flash next to his face, and when he came round there had been a blinding brightness, which turned out to be the sun piercing into the cockpit of the downed Zord. When he moved he realised that the crawling lights seemed to be a part of that larger light and things were not as bad as they looked. 

_*Wait a moment…*_

He frowned, trying to track down that elusive thrill of thought, that sensation he had come to recognise as the precursor to an important realisation. 

_"Billy? Are you all right? Come in!"_ That was Trini's voice with more than a little undertone of fear in it. 

_"I'm fine,"_ he said automatically, realising his mouth was a bit dry. What was that thought? There was a thought there and it had glided out of reach. 

He tried to sit up and decided maybe he had been a little hasty in saying he was fine. 

_"Thank god. We were getting worried. Things are going to pieces up here; we need all the help we can get. Rocky thinks they are only now getting ready to hit us full force and we are down to half our number!"_ Trini's voice managed to contain the dreadful urgency only by immense control. 

Light against Light, _that _was the thought. "Where do you never look for something? In the light you are using to find it." He spoke aloud. "I've been BLIND … a source of energy that would show up as light? Where would you hide it? Not in the dark, but in the biggest light around. The Sun. The Orb is in the Sun!" 

Like all things, it was obvious when you went looking for it. It didn't take much to rewire enough power into his device to check, and sure enough, when he bothered to filter out the actual light a representation of a reality node as bright as a great star beamed out from the corona of the sun. Even the warning, the original Ninjetti warning, was a clue of sorts, hidden in plain sight. "The Sun goes Down. Beware the Darkness Visible!" All this time they had never questioned WHY it was the Sun. Just taken it as a metaphor of coming peril. Stupid, stupid, he should have known better than to assume and here he was at the eleventh hour, making a critical deduction that could have saved all these uncountable lives! 

"Then he can't get it. Who could get that?" Skye's voice spoke up, having steadied himself and rid himself of débris. 

"I'm not underestimating him." Billy replied darkly. "The Darkness Visible has met our every move as if he had known it from the start. Nevertheless, whilst the Zeebeedees are fixing us, we best tell the Mentors." 

"You … you sure?" Skye asked, a shudder running up his spine at that moment. Probably reaction from the crash. 

"What else can we do?" Billy asked, pushing up unsteadily. "I can reach Zordon at least, he is Ninjetti." He took a deep breath, hoping that Zordon had heeded their warnings of a potential traitor in the Council of the Wise. "Zordon, it's Billy; the Orb is in the Sun, actually in the sun itself. I'm really hoping the Darkness Visible cannot get it there." 

"Well done, Billy, I do not believe that it can. Master Ninjetti Ba'rak would not have placed it somewhere easier for this evil entity to reach." Zordon sounded pleased. "All we must do is bar its way and we will have succeeded!" 

Billy relaxed a little. "Rocky, we'll rejoin you all the moment the Zeebeedees have patched us up." He spoke up, also passing that to Trini. "Hold on up there … there is an end to this!" 

_"I hope so, Billy, because I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up."_

Trini's voice came over the Ninjetti link before she disappeared into battle once more.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Overhead Divatox, Rita and Zedd were taking on Jason and Delphine and being beaten back as, with the destruction of Master Vile, they lost an important point of cover and firepower. During Billy's recovery period, the Red Lion and White Shaserrel Ninjetti had double-teamed them effectively, creating a barrier that pushed Divatox into a brief retreat, and Lord Zedd into panic. 

"Retreat!" Zedd bellowed. "The Orb! Let's get out of here!" 

"No!" Rita shrieked back, her focus destroyed. "My Father! They will pay for what they have done to him ... my father!" 

Zedd didn't give a damn about Rita's father. All he could see was that if a single Master Ninjetti could bring down Master Vile's space fortress, then what chance did they stand against two of them? Three, if you counted that pesky DolphinZord which was bouncing around here somewhere. If the Orb wasn't here, what was the point of hanging around? 

"Rita.." He tried being reasonable, which he found to be a bit of a strain. "Is this is what your father would have wanted?" 

"Yes! He would expect me to wade through freshly spilt blood! To destroy and annihilate, to leave a mark of terror and desolation in the hearts of his killer to commemorate his passing!" Rita was filled with an anguished blood lust. "They will all DIE for this!" 

"But the Orb ..." Zedd interrupted her tirade and then froze as Rita whirled on him, magic wreathing her hands and glowing in her eyes. 

"For better or worse ... HUSBAND!" she spat. "If you will not join me in avenging my family, then you are no husband of mine." 

It was then, a little late, that some of Rita's history flooded back to him that had seemed so laughably distant in the past and a cheerful exaggeration of her court at best. Strongest wielder of the witch-magic in this aeon, in her prime she had enslaved planets with a single, unbelievably complex magic working. It was hard to fathom after she seemed unable to penetrate the   
protections of Earth. But then if the Orb was here - that would explain why this backward, technologically and Power-deficient planet had stymied her legendary abilities. Not that he had any longer to think about it than that, because in that moment witch-power crackled around him and with a scream of pain and protest he was sucked into the nearest magical reservoir - his Z staff. As it clattered to the floor with a metallic tinny clang, Rita turned with a feral and completely insane smile. 

"Now then – let's see about destroying them all," Rita announced, no longer concerned with personal safety or anything but gratifying her need for vengeance. "Full power to attack them both and grind this place to dust and bone!" 

"Rita and Zedd have lost it!" Elgar said excitedly. "The old witch has put all her power into attack." 

"This is not good!" Divatox growled. "I don't want to ride in on her funeral party." 

"But she's winning!" 

Indeed it seemed like the Ninjetti Masters were taken aback by this sudden recklessness and being beaten back towards the suburbs of Angel Grove. "Now a VICTORY party I'll happily crash." Divatox said in a u-turn of allegiance. "Let's beat these Ninjetti! Fire missiles ... fire everything you have got!" 

There was no way they could protect all of Angel Grove, not from an attack that would have been better viewed as the climax of a science fiction blockbuster. Missiles escaped past them and every time they did, Jason felt the guilt of it like a stabbing pain. Houses tumbled into flames and Jason glimpsed in one moment, way beneath him, the sprawled body of someone. Someone young, no other details, just a lifeless form, hair splayed out in the dust. He hoped, he prayed she was already dead because in the next moment, the building collapsed, burying the figure in ablazing rumble. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut, hard. People were DYING here. Innocent people. God, he used to walk that street on his way to Angel Grove High, maybe it had been someone he knew! Even someone he had known just from walking past and maybe even waved at, what had THEY known or cared about galactic threats? All they had known was the terror of an innocent involved in a war and destruction they had no knowledge about and had died, a sacrifice to a greater good they didn't even understand! 

Lives wasted, ruined. Jason swallowed, trying to rid himself of a burning emotion that could not decide whether it would be guilt or anger. 

And every moment somewhere, someone died in this war. Not a warrior but an innocent who hadn't chosen this path as they had, who as Rangers they had sworn to protect above their own lives. How had it come to this? How? 

"Justin! The Power Chamber has some heavy defences," he gritted out, trying to see past the anger and the cold image that seemed to have burned itself on his vision. 

"Get to one of the laser cannons and ... see if you can back us up here. We don't have enough punch!" 

Justin, knowing when they were really outclassed, replied in an affirmative and the DolphinZord leapt out of the fray. 

_"He is going to be too late," _Billy sent, monitoring from their crash position. _"Jase, by the time he gets there, you'll be over the centre of Angel Grove."_

"Then I'll use my Master Power," The Red Lion Ninjetti said grimly, reaching for his glyph. 

"No, wait, Jason of Earth!" Delphine's voice rang out. "Your power is of Fire. This is dangerous to use where there are so many people. Mine is of air ... any destruction I wreak will begin and end with my command whereas fire might do our enemies' work for us." 

"Good point." Jason knew when to back down. There was always the possibility that, like with Zack, the effort required might overwhelm them before they could stop what they had unleashed. The thought of fire raging through Angel Grove was not a pretty one. "Your call, Delphine; make it a good one!" 

Delphine inclined her head. "Master Power Oless!" She summoned the power of the Air and it bent to her will so easily, twisting and spiralling to her as her telepathic powers reached out to enlist its aid. 

The spiralling shape of a tornado seemed to spring out of nowhere, given colour and substance by the smoke and debris it pulled into itself. As yet it was nothing, but as Delphine concentrated the twisting thing of air grew and expanded until it roared, pushing at both Rita's and Divatox's craft with the might of a hurricane and was directed upon pushing them away. 

Jason was hard pushed to control his Zord – and he was shielded from the buffeting force. The energy that had to be in that whirling tornado was staggering_. "Push them out of Angel Grove … get them out!"_ he encouraged over the link. 

Slowly, inexorably the space-faring destroyers were being repelled and Jason felt like letting out a whoop of triumph as not even their best attempts to fire on them or the city came to anything. 

"Begone, Defilers of air and waters!" Delphine's voice rose, as did the intensity of her tornado force. "Be gone and trouble the Ninjetti no more!" 

The sight was truly incredible. Like the finger of some vast wrathful deity the tornado, roaring, it seemed, with the righteous wrath of their many victims, swayed and then flicked at the crafts of Rita and Divatox. With effortless ease, that immense force sent them hurtling back up out of the atmosphere with such speed that they began to disintegrate as their ships reached and then surpassed escape velocity. 

Out of control they tumbled out through space, too concerned with their own survival to worry about anything else or be a further threat. 

Which left the Ninjetti with one problem removed and one problem gained. 

"It's … so strong!" Delphine gasped out, her usually unshakeable voice trembling with strain. "It's … fighting … me …" 

"Oh man, last thing we want is that thing loose in the city." Jason stared. It was hypnotic ... mesmerising in its raw power. Maybe that was why people got involved in causes he could not comprehend having any attraction. Because they were mesmerised by power rather than content. He tried to get his thoughts to behave. He knew it was a defence against these shocking events, but he didn't have time for his mind to blank out on him like that. "Push it to the desert; then you can let it go and it will collapse!" 

"I shall … endeavour … to … not … hit the ... Power Chamber," Delphine said and the fatigue showed in her voice as she herded the pillar of tormented, angry air towards the desert and safety. 

It was only then that Jason suddenly said aloud, "Wonder what happened to Justin?"   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


The Darkness Visible tensed, anticipation swelling within its amorphous form. Now? Not another tedious casualty report from his Chosen, but what he was waiting for? 

**_*Incoming Communication _**_… Sender unregistered.*_

Yes! FINALLY! "Open communications," he ordered. 

The channel crackled a little. " Lord Zha'kha-rhee'aa, we have received a communication from the Wolf Ninjetti. This may not be news you receive well." 

"Continue," the Darkness Visible said with irritation. 

"It appears the Orb of Order has been placed within the sun's corona. Zordon and my fellow members of the Council of the Wise believe it will lie there safe from your interference." The voice shook a little. 

"And you too cannot see how I could fetch it from such a resting place? But still you fulfil your part of the bargain." The Zha' Kha-rhee'aa laughed. "Truly the Aquitians are an honourable race," he said with heavy irony. 

"I believe the Prophecy," the Aquitian mentor said simply. "The Shahin Tara Zed will be swallowed by Darkness. It is fated that you will succeed. Therefore I protect my people with our … covenant." 

"You are wise to trust in me. I have a way, and I believe a means now I know what has to be done," the Darkness Visible replied. The safety of one world? It was nothing to what he could do when he had the Orbs and mastered them both. "If you would seek not just safety but good fortune for Aquitar, create whatever destruction and havoc you can upon our enemies … as you flee. For this I will reward you and yours well." He was playing the mentor skillfully. How easy it had been to learn his ways when he had them ... how much of doubt and darkness existed within him even then. Alesto had lived a long time with the portion of knowledge that told him and his line the greatest weapon of the Ninjetti would fail at the last. So easy to use that as a stepping stone into his mind and discover under that control a surprising emotional immaturity that could be twisted so easily. Twisted to make Alesto, stalwart of the Council of the Wise, turn traitor and believe he was doing it because it was the right thing to do. 

"I will endeavour to fulfil your expectations for the sake of my people," Alesto replied coldly, ended the transmission and the Darkness Visible gave into delighted laughter.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Cestro staggered back to the Power Chamber, dazed from his exertions with the Master power. He felt so … drained. He was usually in control of his thoughts and was not used to them being so clouded and difficult to focus. For a moment he thought the sounds of explosions were from the battle or products of an overtaxed mind, but he smelled drifting smoke. Hallucinations were rarely that thorough. Smoke ... fire, coming from the Power Chamber! 

He broke into a shambling run, forcing his fatigued body to respond, and stumbled into the darkness. 

Something clattered on the floor near to him and he threw himself away instinctively, flinching from it, only just clearing the flash of bright energy that blinded him and tossed him back against the wall. He sensed rather than heard or saw someone pass him, pausing for a long moment over him as his skin crawled with utter tension at his vulnerability and then whoever it was exited, leaving him to push himself unsteadily up. Cestro's eyes watered painfully and he tried to rub the blurred vision away with the back of his arm. There was a strange disturbing realisation - the presence had felt … familiar; he wiped away the stinging 

The inside of the Power Chamber drifted with dust and smoke and lights flickered, illuminating the devastation in small, brief, painful bursts of vision. 

Cestro nearly tripped over a piece of metal, ignoring the tight sensation of heat in his skin that indicated the flash grenade had singed him more than just a little. 

One of the Mentors had done this to them! Betrayed their position, betrayed Billy's deduction and signalled the doom of Earth. They had to stop him! His reasoning was arrested by a dim glimmer of blue material, covered by a shroud of the white dust. The hand twisted backwards was so still and young … 

"Justin?" Cestro weaved unsteadily, as much from shock as from residual hurt and exhaustion. "JUSTIN!" 

The young form was a husk. Pale and empty of any semblance of life, it having drained away in a thick pool of dark accusing blood. It was like a hideous fracture in the ways things should be. Justin, a dynamo of energy, his perpetual motion … stilled by a traitorous hand. The Aquitian's normally imperptuable expression was stricken with raging emotions, vivid and bright, so wrong to be gleaming in his gentle eyes. "Who did this?" he asked the air. "Who DID this?" 

"Alesto …" came a weak voice from behind a computer bank. Lillian DeSantos pushed herself up and stood, favouring her right leg and coughed to clear her throat of choking dust. 

"… just … walked in to the console … and Justin realised something was wrong. He tried to stop him, but could not - too strong and he just … killed him … Madre de Dios … just cut him down … in front of us all!" 

"Alesto?" That was more wounding than anything. A surge of reflected shame and guilt swept over the Blue Ranger of Aquitar. It couldn't be true, they trusted him! They were devoted to him, and he had been the worst kind of traitor! 

He stood a moment, not ready to accept the full extent of the devastation around or inside of him. The presence over him had felt familiar. He could not deny the truth. He clutched his spirit crystal, calling for the wisdom and clarity of the Celepha, his spirit animal, before sending. 

_*This is a message for all Ninjetti. The Aquitian Mentor Alesto has turned traitor. Be warned, he should be considered dangerous and of hostile intent."_

Rocky picked up the message and felt the shock hit his system. "But he was in the Power Chamber …" 

The pain of horror and anxiety was so sharp that Rocky now knew why it was referred to as being stabbed in the back. It felt so literal, a betrayal that robbed him of breath. All this time they had thought Phantom to be somewhat paranoid and that the Council of the Wise was incorruptible by their nature of being the Council of the Wise. More shocks were to come, and he forced himself to listen as Alesto's mind voice continued. 

_"I regret to inform you that in his escape he has seriously damaged our base of operations. Casualties are as yet unknown save for one confirmed fatality." _There was a significant pause as if Cestro was trying to compose himself. _"That is the Blue Dolphin Ninjetti, Justin of Earth."_

"No!" Tommy nearly missed his aim, nearly spun out of control, as he heard his own instinctive denial echoed around the Ninjetti link. 

Too young to die, too young ... not even on the front lines … All their attempts to keep him safe, and he had fallen to the hand of someone he had trusted. 

'_There is no safe place in war,' _his falconspirit echoed inside as he struggled to deal with the shock and prevent himself from being killed in the process. One slip, and the Falcon would fall to the mobbing black crows of the Nid-hi ships. 

"So young ..." Tommy said aloud, his mind turning irresistibly to speculation and what ifs. He felt his throat close tight with burning emotion as he imagined Justin challenging his opponent with that total confidence that bad things did not happen to good people. That total confidence he had shown when he was a ranger, that no-one could get REALLY hurt, that the whole thing was just a big adventure full of wonder and dangerously exciting incidents and experiences. 

He could SEE it as if he had been there, Justin challenging Alesto with that belief in his own immortality, for a moment certain everything would be fine. 

It nearly destroyed him to even consider the fleeting moment in which Justin may have realised he was going to … going to die. 

His eyes burning now, Tommy shied away from that empathy-induced horror as he felt also the cold clench of fear for his family. "David … Sam … Dad ..." 

He had brought them there, thinking it safe for them and now they could be lost … like … Justin. They had been in the Power Chamber. How much damage had there been? Were they hurt or injured or their lives taken, too, by a traitor's escape? For all his training and preparation, that knowledge shook him to the core and across space many of the Ninjetti Masters wavered in their defence. 

_"Fall back towards Earth and regroup!"_ Rocky called out across the link, as ragged holes appeared in their lines. 

_"Everybody up ... there are massive energy surges in their big cruisers. They'll go right through us the way we are now! Allies fleet, withdraw to Earth and see if you can restore functions in the Power Chamber – your weapons are not effective against the Nid-hi and they are bringing out the big guns now." _They would not get to Earth and destroy it. If he could find a way, they would not – and they still had their final weapon, didn't they? 

Or did they have more traitors? Rocky's normally cheerful expression was darkened by anger. _"And if anyone sees Alesto, I really think he should be stopped by whatever means you feel are necessary." _The tone of his mind made it very clear he was not going to be too picky about what condition Alesto would be in when he was stopped.   
  
  
  


_***_

  
  
  
  
  


Cestro pulled himself up, or tried to at the very least. The knowledge of this filled him with guilt in such a way that only an Aquitian could feel. Tight, internal and dangerous. He reached instinctively for the telepathic private reassuring touch of Delphine, sensing her exhaustion and distress. 

_"We are betrayed, love.* _Such gentle private emotions in the midst of destruction. 

Delphine's thoughts were tired yet resolute._ "It is down to us … to me to purge the Aquitian race of this dishonour. I have him on my display and I will stop him."_

_"No! Delphine, he is too dangerous and he will use lethal force! He has already." _Cestro stopped, knowing that was the wrong argument to use to his wilful mate. 

_"Killed an innocent, broken one of the Aquitian Sacred Laws. Defiled the very precepts we trained so hard and strove for so long to defend_." Delphine sounded unshakeable in her decision. _"I am, for all that I am a Ninjetti Master, first and foremost the White Ranger of Aquitar, and you know what that means."_

_"No, Delphine, please… no," _Cestro pleaded with her. He could imagine her eyes, fierce and bright with unshed tears as she sped after the escaping Mentor. A dread akin to that which he had felt seeing that crumpled shape on the floor of the power chamber, in the instant before recognition of a terrible unalterable reality. 

_"The White Ranger has the skill, the White Ranger has the responsibility. Alesto should know that I will not betray the Duty he instilled into my very heart," _Delphine replied, a sense of fatalistic calm seeping into her mindvoice. 

_"I cannot let you go, Delphine." _Cestro called to her across space. 

_"And you will not. For I will come to you when it is over, a soul seeking its other half – one way or another." _Delphine targeted the small fleeing ship._ "The honour of Aquitar will be restored – until then, my love."_

And she drew her contact away with a feather light caress on his mind before she turned to face her one-time Mentor. 

"Alesto of Aquitar! Stand and be judged!" She hailed the ancient Aquitian in a crisp voice. "You stand accused of being a traitor to not just the Oceans of Aquitar, but the galactic Seas of space. Return for judgement." 

There was a pause and then that familiar voice that had so often guided the Rangers of Aquitar from danger spoke. "What I have done has been for the good of Aquitar. The weapon of the Ninjetti will fail, it is written … and the enemies of the Darkness Visible will be swallowed. This will not happen to Aquitar. I have vowed to protect my world." 

It was hard to not accept those words, hard to remember that he had given away vital information and was even now hurrying to the side of their Enemy. For so many years the words of the Mentors had been immutable wisdom; it was a wrench of pain to break from the habit of obedience. 

"At the expense of the rest of the free galaxy?" Delphine challenged. "This is a crime that you admit freely?" 

"The ends justify the means. The Ninjetti are prophesied to fail. It is logical to preserve what aspect of security I can for my planet," Alesto replied in a cold voice. 

Delphine was horrified, experiencing in that moment the terrible disillusionment that **comes** when a child realises their parent is indeed not infallible and makes their first grievous error in front of them. "And in doing so violate the Sacred Laws. You took an innocent life with deliberate aforethought. You know the consequences." 

It seemed so strange to be doing this in the middle of battle, where life and death boiled around them without the courtesy of discussion. 

Alesto sounded weary. "I will not commit Kinshini, I have stayed true to my Duty to Aquitar." 

"But not to your Duty to the Power itself. You are a tool of Darkness and if you will not, then I must carry you to the Waters Beyond in my thought." Delphine spoke the ritual phrase that unlocked that secret training, her heart bidding farewell to Cestro as she did so. 

"Delphine!" For the first time, Alesto sounded surprised and shocked. 

"You taught me this. A White Ranger is the one who is prepared to die for the greater good, for not just those they love, but for ideals and Duty." Delphine shuddered, coughing as the subconscious command took hold and her eyes practically glowed. 

This was the reason for the elaborate formality and exaggerated control of the Aquitian race; because of an extension to their telepathic ability that if uncontrolled, or unleashed in rage, could kill another of their race with the force of their mind. From childhood it was trained out, but in those trustworthy enough, the leaders of the Rangers, they were taught the Kinshini – a method to unleash the full telepathic potential of the Aquitian mind. 

But once unleashed that was the end, and so Delphine, glowing with the light of a wakening mind, shrugged off her body and swooped, elegant in her soul-flight as the Shaserrel that was her animal spirit, across the intervening space and with determination dived at the Aquitian mentor and ripped his dark, shadowed mind from his body with all the righteous energy she could muster. 

Strangely he did not fight, he did not even shield. It was as if it was a release from a terrible burden of hopelessness that had formed a canker in his being for too long to bear. 

She set the essence free and felt her own dissolve into the Waters Beyond. Her body had no energy to take her back, she had no where to go except … 

Fading, fading fast, called by a beacon of love for her, a lonely candle in the fast approaching darkness she reached … 

Cestro dropped to his knees and seemed to mouth the word 'Delphine' before collapsing completely as Rocky reported her death to the Ninjetti Link, and that of the Aquitian mentor and betrayer, Alesto of Aquitar.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"Initiate, my lord?" Ilana the Silver Nid-hi asked, weary but elated from the long battle. Finally they would use their own master weapon. A crude form that had begun as the project of Dark Spectre and had taken the Nid-hi to hone and perfect under the guidance of the Darkness Visible into a weapon the like of which had never been seen in all their conquests. 

She smiled and brushed the gleaming silver of her mane back from her sweat-dampened fur. They would win. She had seen THEIR weapon and in comparison, the frail human was like a speck of space dust falling into darkness. 

"Initiate," the Darkness Visible agreed, his orders crisp as he set his own agenda into play. "Form point. Attack their Base on the lunar satellite." 

"But my Lord, is it necessary? " Ilana asked, hesitating a little. The Ninjetti forces were fielded. Only wounded and non-warriors were there, she was sure. She could see no honour ... no tactical sense in attacking a base that could potentially be converted for their own use. 

"Do not question me, my Chosen." The entity issued a mild warning. "I have my reasons. Do you presume to imply that I should justify them to you?" There was a piercing core to the warm golden voice she had never heard before. 

"Of course not, my Lord, we shall see to it immediately," she replied hastily. "I will form our forces into a suitable escort for your triumphant approach." 

"See that you do so, my Chosen." The voice replied as if whispering in her ear behind her and seeing the increasing doubts she had experienced ever since - ever since she had looked into the eyes of that alien Ninjetti and not seen evil in their depths. She shuddered, but immediately began issuing orders. 

The Ninjetti fell back, bloodied and exhausted from the long battle in space. The long-awaited final push was on its way and fear preceded it like a tidal wave. 

_"Everyone!"_ Rocky was sending urgently to any Ninjetti Spirit Warrior there was, injured or otherwise. _"Get up here now! We need all power to the front line ... the Enemy is ... is doing something. What the hell ARE they doing?"_ Rocky looked at his readouts with a sort of horrified dismay. 

In the depths of space, massive amounts of energy arced around the surfaces of the vast matt black battle cruisers as they transformed, linking segment to segment in a stately terrifying dance. 

Enterprising Ninjetti, hoping to find them vulnerable in this transition, flew in, managing a few shots before they were set upon by the remainder of the Nid-hi Legions. Long enough though to discover that the enemy weapon was force-field shielded. As they were helpless to prevent its assembly, it was the Ninjetti of Earth who recognised the shape. 

_"Serpentera ..."_ Kim whispered as the black dragonish head morphed into place and immense energy charges played over its specially coated 'dragon-hide' and the force field it generated, making it an inky black shadow sinuously moving in the heart of tortured light. 

_"That thing makes Serpentera look like a joke snake out of a cracker,"_ Trini replied, her heart pounding fast. There was no WAY Skye could beat this thing. Suddenly the symbolism seemed so terribly appropriate. Dragon and Phoenix – how had Billy known? 

_"The bigger they are…"_ Tommy responded wearily, all his resolve seemingly sucked from him with the appearance of this true manifestation of the Darkness Visible. 

Acutely now he felt the lack of their link back to Earth. He felt he needed something to stabilise his decisions and to ground him. But the Power Chamber was destroyed, all the family he had somewhere in there ... 

_"Billy, got any weakness on it yet?"_ he asked hopefully. *_Don't let us down Billy; we need you to come up with an answer,* _he thought to himself as he waited anxiously. 

The Blue Wolf Zord was climbing out of Earth atmosphere along with Jason and the Red LionZord. Cestro, by all reports, had been rendered unconscious by his grief for Delphine and seemed to not hear the summons. There was nothing they could say that even seemed to reach him. 

_"Running analysis now, Tommy,"_ Billy replied tersely, frowning at the data stream flowing across the screen in front of him. 

_"We are going to need that data soon,_" Rocky warned. _"Nid-hi force on intercept with lunar base."_

Kat's down there, his mind kept telling him. So is Aisha and Adam; everyone who is really important to you is in danger. _"Oh god."_

_"It is time to invoke the Shahin Tara Zed,"_ Zordon's voice echoed through the link. _"The Darkness now truly is Visible, incarnate in this form. Invoke the Star Phoenix Ninjetti to his destiny."_

Billy paused a moment and his mind recoiled from even that possibility; with all instinct, with all parts of his being, the destroying, the murder of a friend was just unacceptable. It was the hardest thing he had done to go against the counsel of their mentor. 

_"No,"_ he replied in a low whisper. _"No, Zordon. I will not."_

_"You must! It is his destined path, Billy."_ Zordon's voice showed signs of strain. _"You would let all die for the sake of one life? Billy, you have always trusted my judgement before, why not now?"_ The Eltarian tried to force him to a decision, believing that at the last the Wolf Ninjetti struggled with what needed to be done. He KNEW, with a completeness born of ages of study and research, the knowledge of the galaxy he had studied, that this HAD to happen. He felt the sorrow of the price, but all of the Council of the Wise understood implicitly what sacrifices had to be made. 

"Because. It's not right, Zordon. Doesn't feel right." Billy nearly shouted, clenching his fists, aware of Skye's terrible stillness next to him, the Star Phoenix Ninjetti waiting as if a blade was against his throat. 

"Doesn't FEEL right?" That was a different voice. C'haal's echoing roar tore at his confidence. "Are you a warrior or not? Death is a part of the cycle! It has been written longer than Earth has had history that the Shahin Tara Zed would be invoked once the Darkness had manifested its Avatar form! You think you know better? Put aside you misguided sentimentality and remember your Duty to the galaxy!" 

"C'haal ..." Zordon interrupted, knowing his Ranger better than the Drakin Mentor. Billy did not need hostility, and he was under enough pressure. Too much would force the young Ninjetti down the wrong path. "Enough." 

"No. It needs to be said," C'haal replied tersely. "This is our last hope. Our base is destroyed, our forces decimated for all their bravery, and he REFUSES to invoke our only weapon!" 

"You will destroy us all." Rhamahada spoke up "The Prophecy must be fulfilled. It is Written and cannot be denied!" 

There was a chorus of agreement from the other mentors that Billy could not tolerate. "Enough! Enough!" he snapped at them. "Just stop. Stop." His voice became quiet. He didn't need this, not before the end was due to break its devastation upon them all. 

"You will invoke him?" That was Dimitria's questioning tone. 

"No," Billy replied into the silence and with a pass over his spirit crystal his hand blocked incoming messages from the link and took one brief moment to feel his eyes burn at the injustice of being pressured like this when he was tired … so tired, and his leg hurt with god knew what injuries. How could he be sure he was making the right decision when he was so tired and they were so certain? Wouldn't it be easier just to follow their direction as he had for so long? No, if he were going to condemn Skye to death, it would not be because he would be too tired to think for himself. He owed his friend a decision at the very least, rather than a copout. 

_Why me?_ He asked again and then sighed as the same answer came back. _If not you, then who else?_

"Billy?" a tentative voice interrupted his momentary reverie. Skye was watching him closely, his bright clear blue eyes scanning his face anxiously. "Not that I'm not grateful, but … remember our agreement? Please don't let the others die if I could save them?" 

Billy gave a noise of frustration and his fingers clattered rapidly over his computer interface keyboard. "I have my reasons," he replied, abruptly signalling the discussion was over. He could sense the mentors trying to reach him and refused to listen in case it eroded the certainty of his decision. 

"Billy … I know you don't want to ... but ..." Skye sighed, seeing a familiar quiet stubbornness settle around his friend, more impenetrable than any armour. This was the last thing he needed, and he bowed his head. He could not beg to die. He hated that weakness in himself, but he did not feel strong enough to beg for his life to end; for all he knew it was like as not an inevitable consequence of this conflict. He could tell that Billy would not be moved on this, though, rightly or wrongly. 

Billy frowned as he completed the programming, noticing the movement even amongst his concentration. "Skye, you have trusted me with everything else, up to and including your life. You think I would betray not only all my other friends but that trust as well?" 

Skye looked towards him a moment and their gazes locked for a brief instant in a wordless communication. "No, Billy … you wouldn't." The Star-phoenix Ninjetti remembered acutely what it was that hurt his friend the most in their argument. Questioning his commitment in view of all the sacrifices he had made, what he had endured. 

"Then trust me." Billy looked at him seriously. "I'm worried, Skye. Every move we have made, the Darkness Visible has been prepared for. You really think that he has not prepared for our counter attack? The problem is that right now I don't know what the end game is going to be like, and if you are our ultimate weapon, then you may be needed for that. Understand?" 

"But Zordon and the others seem so sure," Skye said softly, hating himself for having to point that out again. 

A chill ran down Billy's spine. What if he was making a deadly, desperate error? Had he ever gone against Zordon's counsel before? Had the mentor ever been wrong before? He had never felt so alone as now when this decision could mean so much for so many. 

"I know," the Blue Wolf Ninjetti replied and focused his attention on the monstrous dragon form that could half wrap the moon it was attacking. His hand hovered over the Star Phoenix glyph that burned on his chest armour, flashing blue fire as he moved … and yet, it stayed, the Power dormant as he refused to invoke that Power yet, even in the face of Prophecy.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


"Come on!" The Darkness Visible murmured from his personal area in the head of Serpentera Reborn. "Come on, First Warrior of Phaedos, your pride has to be sticking in your throat at this cowardly tactic … come on, I know you want to …" Did he have to engineer EVERYTHING? Had the Ninjetti become cautious in the aeons he had been gone? A brief sigh and then he opened a broadband communications channel. 

"Surrender the Orb to me and I will not destroy your lunar base." He spoke in that golden, reasonable voice. "Have the Ninjetti lost all sense of reality? I see now that the vaunted honour of the Ninjetti hasdeteriorated to nothing more than Khal'az Kr'aa!" 

To most of the fleet that last word meant nothing, but to Dulcea and some of the mentors it was an insult that warranted blood spilt in its answering. 

_"I cannot allow this to occur,"_ Dulcea said, her eyes flashing, her outrage pushing the limits of her weary patience. _"They must not attack the Moonbase. Most of our wounded are there. I'm going into complete stealth and I should be able to locate a weak spot."_

_"Dulcea, I'm not sure if that is ..."_ Tommy began as the OwlZord shimmered out of sight as the battle continued. _"Oh dammit …"_

If the Darkness Visible had not been specifically watching Dulcea's craft, looking for that very disappearance, he might well have been unprepared. As it was, he smiled and for the first time called up his full Power and let it flow through the Dragon form, the electrical arcing tinged with red, a shimmer as the movements of the Serpentera Zord became more organic, more … alive as he breathed his own spark into its metallic hulk. 

The shift was sudden. In a strange shift so swift it appeared as illusion it transformed from a gargantuan machine to a sentient monster that writhed like a strip of Darkness torn from space itself. The eyes, which had been mere stylised forms of metal before, became filled with the amorphous colours that had swirled in the entity of the Darkness Visible. 

A moment too late the warning was shouted through the link. 

_"Dulcea! Get away from it!"_ J'shaar called out in warning, having recognised the eye patterns from their close encounter on the mission to rescue the Council of the Wise. 

The Black Dragon's head swung around, glistening in the reflected light of the planets - and in the corona of the force field, flickering with blood lightning, a shape of invisibility was discovered and the head twisted with the speed of a striking snake, snapped down with metallic teeth, crushing close on the Master Ninjetti's OwlZord. 

"Dulcea!" Jason could barely even gasp as a twisted, mangled Zord flickered into visibility, caught carefully between the dragon's jaws. "Dulcea …" 

"Well now, Ninjetti." The insinuating voice echoed through their Zords. "It seems I have a message for one of you in particular. It's interesting what information can turn out to be so useful, even if Alesto - sadly no longer with any of us … saw no value in telling me the trivialities of who was with whom. I say, and stand proven, that all information is useful." The Darkness Visible's voice sounded rather good-humoured as if this were a mere distraction to it, not life and death. 

"To business then. Jason of Earth! I address you out of all the Master Ninjetti. You have the Master Power of Fire. You can reach into the Sun itself and draw out the Orb. The offer is simple. Do this and you all live. Don't, and the first one to die … slowly … will be the love of your life." He made it all sound so reasonable. 

"No! Jason, NO!" Dulcea screamed out from the crippled OwlZord, in the mouth of the massive black dragon form. She punched futilely at a self-destruct function and cursed genuinely that the thing would not work due to all the damage around it – what by all the Powers was the point of a self-destruct if it didn't bloody work! 

Jason looked at the scene, the LionZord floating aimlessly as he screwed up his eyes, trying to hold back hot tears. He couldn't. He COULDN'T! She would never forgive him if he betrayed everything she stood for because he loved her. Personal was not always the same as important. He'd said that to Goldar. 

"No …" he whispered, but the broadcast flung his word out across the stars. 

"Then I will destroy your Earth. Think of that." The Darkness Visible purred from out of the void of stars, the black dragon's nest. "Billions of lives, the lives you swore to protect destroyed because of you. Let's tell the world, shall we?" There was a momentary pause and a click as communication channels were opened. "People of Earth, say your prayers to whatever deity you wish. I find I have no need of your planet because Jason Scott will not do me the favour of retrieving something that was stolen from me … and he refuses even for the sake of the love of his life. If you doubt my capability, then let us demonstrate on … oooh, I'm sure this red planet can do without at least one moon." 

A charge seemed to crawl up Serpentera Reborn, starting from the tail, gaining power until like a whip cracking, the head snapped forward and a sphere of deadly energy was flung out of its forehead, spreading into a disc, into a coruscating wave of destruction that shredded any craft, Ninjetti or Nid-hi that did not flee swiftly enough, then finally Phoebus itself. 

It was gone … just … gone. Where the wave had passed, blinding in its release, now vast meteors flung themselves into the surface of Mars, the only evidence that something so disastrous had occurred. 

"Dear God." Kim felt her mouth go dry as she envisaged the disintegration of everything she knew and loved in the short moments it had taken to destroy the Martian moon. 

_"Billy, for god's sake invoke Skye!"_ Tommy demanded, desperately trying to reach Jason to try and stop him somehow. 

_"I can't, Tommy! Don't you see, that is what he wants me to do!"_ Billy protested, not wanting to defend himself before his friends as well as the Mentors. 

_"What he WANTS is the Orb!"_ Tommy flared back, impatient in his anxiety. 

_"No, what he wants is me to expend our last chance on this!"_ Billy argued. "_If I have to spend Skye's life on something, it won't be a trap!"_

_"Spend ... spend his life?"_ Tommy hesitated, regretting his vehemence. 

_"The moment I use him, he will have only a short time and then will die, win or lose,"_ Billy explained quietly as he began typing in commands for his countermove with desperate speed. 

_"But…"_ Tommy paused and then swore as he noticed something else. 

Jason's resistance had crumbled. His home, his family, his friends ... Dulcea. Earth, that jewel of the heavens he had looked at and vowed to protect. The threat was no empty one, that evidence of destruction had been stunning in its effectiveness, practically bringing the battle to a halt. The Earth was no longer necessary to the Darkness Visible now that the Orb of Reality was discovered in the heart of the sun. 

Maybe he would die if he went after it as the Darkness Visible demanded, maybe - but he could not live with that on his conscience. He doubted he could live with Dulcea's death either, but then it would only be him who would suffer, not an entire world. 

Dark eyes resolute and full of anger, he invoked his Master Power of Fire, and as the Red Lion Zord became a thing of flames he wheeled it around on a direct course for the heart of the sun, able to stare at its heart, as it called to him, Fire to Fire. 

_"JASON!"_ Billy yelled aloud as well as mentally_, "For God's sake, someone STOP him! STOP him NOW!"_

_"How?"_ Rocky responded, feeling Jason's hurt like a burning coal in his mind but unable to reach him however hard he tried 

Billy hesitated and another part of his self died as he said firmly,_ "Destroy him if it is the only way. Destroy him."_

_"Jason! Bro … stop this! Jason!"_ Rocky tried to get through to him as the Red Lion Ninjetti, for the sake of Earth, for the sake of his friends, for the sake of his love streaked into the outer corona of the sun. 

Billy was swearing at himself, and everything around him. He had to try and get Dulcea free and take away that threat of hostage manipulation. Maybe this ploy would be enough. The programming he had been doing since the manifestation of the Darkness Visible awaited the enter key to set into motion. Now would have to be the time. Here and now. An image of force field energy fluctuations appeared and he stabbed down with a decisive finger. 

_"Ninjetti, fall back,"_ he said in a tone of authority that he used when he was implementing a plan. The despair that had filled some of the rangers lifted a little. Was it going to be the Shahin Tara Zed? 

No. Out of every Ninjetti Zord streamed the Zeebeedees, the tiny maintenance droids that seemed too small to be a threat, cast out like motes of dust at the vastness of the Dragon avatar form of the Darkness Visible. 

_"Justin's Legacy."_ Billy murmured aloud down the Ninjetti link as they loosed a payload of miniature missiles constructed from the Ferian-X Justin had brought at great risk from Triforia at the Enemy fighters and at the black dragon shape blotting out the stars. 

Too late the Nid-hi legions tried to fire at them, but it was like trying to stop a swarm of bees by shooting at it with bullets. A few were destroyed, but the fire passed through them as the Zeebeedee programming unerringly guided each missile to a target. 

The carnage was terrible. The Nid-hi legions were blindsided by an opponent too small to register as a danger and for a long moment Serpentera Reborn writhed in a boiling sea of explosions and weaknesses until holes flickered in its force field. 

The jaw area was targeted and OwlZord was dropped, tumbling out of control, riding the shockwave of the explosions, warped in and secured the damaged Zord and then warped them out of the way of the worst of it. 

A great bellow of triumph went up spontaneously around the remnants of the Ninjetti fleet. 

_"Did we get it? Did we get the Darkness Visible?"_ Tanya asked excitedly. The glare of light faded and the monstrous dragon writhed, the force field flickering in and out. 

_"That was fantastic, Billy!"_ Tommy called out, a lift in his voice and a rekindled spark of hope. "_Where on Earth did that come from? Why didn't we know!?"_

_"I couldn't afford any of the Council of the Wise knowing ... not after what Phantom said. Neededsomething up our sleeves,"_ Billy murmured and then closed his eyes in an unseen expression of a mental pain. What to do? They had not finished the Darkness Visible, he knew that. He had no other secret weapons save Skye and, god, he was so tired. Then there was Jason. He would not know that Dulcea was safe. 

_"Rocky, try and get through to Jason again … tell him to leave the damn thing in there,"_ he said, exhaustion sounding in his tone. 

_"He's locked me out.**"**_ The Red Ape Ninjetti had been trying over and over. He could do it, but that would mean disconnecting from the others and he couldn't do that! _"He's too deep inside for me to reach."_

_"I'll try and head him off when he comes out,"_ Billy replied and then frowned, noticing an unobtrusive window on his console screen blinking for attention. How long it had it been there? And what was it? 

A lifetime ago it seemed, he had set up a search for reference on the phrase Shahin Tara Zed and now, of all times it had returned. Feeling a strange prickle of anticipation and apprehension, he pulled the window up, despite the critical nature of their situation relying on Skye to pilot WolfZord. 

It had been a search built on a random thought from rereading the transcript of the Prophecy, and as he skimmed the different meanings of the words in languages and dialects from all over the galaxy and narrowed the search with some more relevant parameters, he skimmed down a page and stopped. He was frozen by the utter simplicity and rightness of it all. An Earth language at that. 

_"Beta Aquilae – alternative names for this star. 'Alshain' is derived from Persian name for Aquila, Shahin Tara Zed, 'The Star-Striking Falcon'. Or simply 'Striking Falcon'."_

The words burned there a moment on the screen as Billy felt that curious blankness that a revelation will sometimes bring, especially when you are weary and over-stressed. All the time the mentors had translated it as Starbird or Star Phoenix, and it was … or could be a Striking Falcon. 

As if without his volition, Billy's eyes sought the battle-marked form of the Falcon Zord. There was only one Falcon that he knew of, and his Master Power was of the Lightning Strike, the single powerful blow. The pieces clicked into place in his mind, words from the Prophecy on Triforia coming to him. 

_"Know that in the ambiguity of Prophecy and Destiny lies salvation, for Words cannot be unsaid. Know that the Words of Prophecy have Power, but their final Power is in how they are read, not in the Word itself_." 

Would he be swapping Tommy for Skye, though? Was that what he was doing? He shook his head. No, he truly did believe they were being set up; he had a feel of how the Darkness Visible worked now. Skye might not be the one to face the Avatar of the Darkness Visible, but if Tommy did, then if necessary he would be able to quash his counter attack, using Skye if he had to. There was no way that the Darkness Visible would not come out after Jason … and he would come alone, but once he had committed himself to that action, what would he do with Serpentera? Send it on an all-out course of destruction to keep them occupied. That was logical. So. 

His mind burning with inspiration, frantic and bright, he sketched out a hasty and desperate plan. But then some of his best plans had been born like that. 

"_Rocky, I need Tommy and Tanya in a close link,"_ he announced suddenly, his wolf spirit crystal glowing in response to his concentration. 

_"Got it, Billy. Zordon is still trying to get through to you before it's too late,"_ he said as he contacted the others. 

"I know … this time, I've got to go it alone." He was startled to hear Skye murmur behind him. "_Spirit Warrior of the Wolf, seek your destiny within the lonely choice and decision upon which all else rests…_" 

"You think this is it?" Billy asked his friend hopefully, looking for any type of confirmation. 

"Hard to see if it could be anything else," Skye replied quietly. "It's falling into place, Billy. Not long now and it will all be over, one way or another." 

Billy took a deep breath. "Then let's get on with it_. Tommy, Tanya … do you read me?"_

_"I'm listening in,"_ Tommy replied _"We're trying to make an impact on Serpentera's much bigger brother. Having little effect, though."_ Hidden in that statement was a plea for Billy to either come up with a plan now or something, anything that would help. 

_"Here."_ Tanya replied, sounding weary. 

_"I think I have a handle on what the Darkness Visible's next move is going to be,"_ Billy explained swiftly. _"When Jason comes out of the sun, I am betting that he'll cut the Avatar loose to try and distract us, set it to destroy everything it can so he can get to the Orb_." 

_"This is meant to cheer us up?"_ Tanya said, aghast. 

Billy gave a short laugh. "_No, it's explaining why I am going to ask you what I am going to ask you. Tanya, I want you to invoke you Master Power and draw together the biggest Ninjetti MegaZord you can. I think with it weakened a little more, that Tommy … Tommy can have a chance to strike with HIS Master Power."_

Tommy sounded shocked**.** _"But the Prophecy and the ... and the mentors … won't this fail?"_

Billy said firmly, as if he was completely certain. _"Skye is not the Shahin Tara Zed ... you are, Tommy. That is the secret of the Prophecy we had to uncover. If you face the Darkness Visible's Avatar, then Skye and I will go after the Darkness Visible itself. If it comes to it, I think he is the only one who could possibly deal with him if it manages to get possession of the Orb."_

It was amazing to Billy that they accepted his analysis so easily. He could be wrong … couldn't he? 

_*Not in this lifetime, love."_ Trini's voice whispered through the link to him alone. 

_"Right."_ Tommy felt a surge of energy run through him. They had a plan. In the dying last moments of the battle, they had a plan! _"Tanya, can you do this?"_ he asked. 

_"I'll pull in as many as I can … I'm going to need everyone we can get up there ... Anyone even conscious,"_ she said in a determined tone. It was strangely frightening and exhilarating to be so crucial to events. She had noted that the power of the MegaZords she could pull together was exponential to the amount of Ninjetti in there. The whole became much much greater than the sum of all its parts. 

_"Right, put the word out, Rocky,_" Tommy said firmly. _"All Ninjetti that are conscious and even partially mobile are** to** get up here immediately. Billy, are you sure you and Skye don't need back up?"_

"_We'll make do. I'm hoping that the Darkness Visible has expended a fair amount of its Power on animating that monstrosity,"_ Billy replied and Skye nodded in tacit agreement. 

_"It has put a lot of its energy into animating it,_" the artist supplied in a soft voice. 

_"Right."_ Tommy sounded like he had shed half of his exhaustion. He had direction, focus and a hope that this battle could be ended – and in their favour. 

_"Listen up!"_ he sent out across the link. "_We are going up against the Darkness Visible's Serpentera, using the biggest ranger Megazord we can muster. Tanya, Yellow Oryx Master Ninjetti, will initiate this. We need everyone close and when we weaken it, we will strike."_

_"Tommy, this is an unwise course of action." _Zordon's voice spoke out. "_This is not the way of the Prophecy. We would be wasting effort foolishly and endangering many lives amongst the Ninjetti and those we protect."_

There was a long silence from Tommy and Billy held his breath. He did not want to defy his friend, but he could not do things otherwise, not now. 

To his surprise, when Tommy spoke it was with a focus and certainty that Billy was not expecting. 

_"Zordon, I have been trusting my life, and the life of my teammates, to Billy's judgement for years. Part of my job as a leader of the rangers was to know when to rely on the others in the team. You taught me that, Zordon."_ He paused, examining his own certainties and doubts and coming to an inescapable conclusion_. "Billy, we are going ahead with your plan."_

_"You are sure, Tommy?"_ Billy couldn't help but question, if only in surprise. 

_"Are you, Billy?"_ the White Falcon Ninjetti asked, focussing on manoeuvering close with the other Ninjetti. 

_"Yes."_ Billy replied with only the barest hesitation. The complex issues of his emotions surrounding the defiance of the judgement of their mentors did not shake the facts he had assembled in his mind, and the surety of instinct. 

_"Then I am, too."_ Tommy replied, with trust implicit in his words as he moved into action, a trust that brought a lump to Billy's throat rather unexpectedly. As careless as Tommy could be with his thoughts sometimes, he could be as generous with his emotions_. "Deal with Jason. Tanya, you in position?"_

_"Ready and waiting."_ Tanya's voice sounded focused and intense even through the link. 

_"Go for it,"_ Tommy said and covered Tanya as the process began. 

Tanya touched the glyph on her chest and it glowed gold beneath her fingers, warm and bright in the cockpit of her Zord. "Master Ninjetti Power Mannaz!" she invoked, and with a rush of light her awareness spread out, touching the motes of life and Power around her as she focused hard on drawing them together into a warrior gestalt. 

Like trying to wake to a greater consciousness, she clawed the fragments of power together, unified into a shape born from her mind and desire. A warrior shape, a bright defender, a fighter … vast and unstoppable. A dragonslayer. 

The Zords of the Ninjetti, responding to her inaudible siren call of Power, began to tumble together. Tiny sparkling specks swarmed together as Tanya's mind and spirit strove to bring them all in, lock them all together. Each piece contributed to the group sentience, becoming part of the whole, becoming more as if each individual spark of will joined in total unity of purpose and moved as one. The shape was hazy at first, dreamlike in its definition until Tanya within its heart centre locked the entirety of the Ninjetti warriors into one warrior Zord Entity. Their focus and form a sharp reality now, they turned to face their enemy. 

The Dragon writhed, the force field shield flickering in places, momentarily taken aback. 

"No! This was not what was meant to happen!" The Darkness Visible cursed, shock making it draw in its power a little. "Should be the - should be the Phoenix, the Shahin Tara Zed of the prophecies!" There were few times in the Zha'Kha-rhee'aa's experience that it had ever been surprised or disconcerted, and this was one of them. Hastily he recalculated his strategy, trying to adjust to this new variable. It was nothing. The original plan could still work. The Dragon Avatar would distract them and hopefully destroy their world and their forces, and he would seize the Orb of Order from the Red Lion Ninjetti. 

Then, in bringing the Orb of Chaos in proximity to this prize, BOTH the Orbs would wake and he would be able to bend the Universe … Universes to his will without the limitation of rules or petty things like mortality. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti, he would be of no consequence. How could he hope to stand against the power of the Orbs and himself? Still, best to strike at him first. Eliminate the potential threat if he could, he had sensed some Power in that young warrior. So now, it was time to leave and bring his carefully worked strategy to its ultimate fruition. 

"Nid-hi! Attend me!" he summoned his remaining devoted followers to the Dragon Avatar. Some remained outside his call, but most came, drawn by the habit of obedience to his call. They found themselves invaded, tapped, their life spirits feeding the power of the great dragon, tangled in a dark spirit web to its body. Fear mingled with a quasi-religious ecstasy as the lives of the Nid-hi zealots bled into the mechanical veins of Serpentera Reborn, allowing him to withdraw and leave the Avatar functioning as he seized the prize that had consumed his consciousness for aeons. Primal and raw, the life moved within his creation, animated by the sacrifice of his devoted followers as he instilled one simple imperative into the pseudo–consciousness of the Dragon Avatar. 

**"Destroy our Enemies. Destroy.**" 

So many generations of subtle conditioning and manipulation paid off in a surge of hatred and righteousness that released the Darkness Visible to its own devices, a shadow in the night. 

It was strange. Billy kept looking as they headed towards the sun and seeing a single enormous figure and yet his wolfspirit registered 'Pack'. Only he, Skye and Jason were not in the merge. All others were there, blending together, and there was a slow arc of light that all rangers would have found familiar as the final morphing lock down occurred. 

"She did it," Billy said, quietly grateful for company as the connection to Rocky had faded, leaving him feeling alone with his decision. "I hope I wasn't wrong ... I really do." 

"I don't think so," Skye replied, tensing as he saw a small anomaly on the screen. "And so he makes his move." He said it with a sigh. 

A small part of the Dragon's head detached and shot out towards them, and the Star-Phoenix Ninjetti felt a surge of fear grow. "Here it comes …" 

"Right … we stop it … him … before he can get to Jason," Billy said firmly, well aware they were more than likely outclassed in terms of weaponry. "Or at least delay him long enough so the Orb can be replaced back in there safely." 

"Any ideas how?" Skye asked hopefully as he obediently turned the WolfZord to impose themselves between the Darkness Visible and the sun. 

"Not a clue. Distract it and yell like anything to Jason when he comes out?" Billy replied with a shrug. 

"I like it. Simple. Direct and above all, our only choice," Skye said drily. "Let's do it." 

And Billy wheeled the WolfZord into an uneven battle against the superior might of the Darkness Visible.   
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Fire and a child of fire mingled. There was no danger here, only the joyous light and the epitome of the fantastic energy that had so characterised Jason's life. The Red Lion Ninjetti existed as fire, his Zord a living flame within fire, given shape by his will and barely resisting the glory around him, calling his innermost spirit to join with this greatest of fires. The Sun had a presence to him now, a wonderful presence filling him with welcome and an ecstasy he could not describe or compare with anything he had ever experienced before. It was only Dulcea, Dulcea in danger that kept him from releasing his shape and bleeding into the heart of the Sun. The thought of her a moment from death, crushed in the jaws of a Dragon that could tear apart moons. 

Flame to flame, his spirit communed with the Sun and sensed, like a pearl of coolness, the shape of the orb swirling in plasma solar fire. He sought it, and stretched, the LionZord shape of flame seizing the precious irritant in jaws of fire and turned away from the warmth and life to the absolute coldness of space. 

Riding a solar flare Jason rose up, bounding up through that arc and leaping outwards away from the light, the fire cooling to solidity once more … to normal senses - and to a black shape coming straight at him and a desperate clamouring voice in his ears and mind! 

"Take it back in! Take it back in! We got her free, the others are fighting the Dragon! Take it back in!" Billy yelled again under heavy fire, the WolfZord at bay. They were losing, and losing badly. The Darkness Visible's higher-powered craft was kicking them all over space, and he had the distinct impression he was just passing time before the main event. 

"Billy?" Jason was momentarily stunned as he saw the battered WolfZord literally cannoned out of the way by the black craft and he tried to turn, though his protection from the sun was gone. With no need to bargain, he had to right the problem he had caused even if it meant not surviving himself. At least the fire would welcome him. 

But he was too late. An impact to his Zord tossed him out into space and he turned and found himself grappled by the Darkness Visible, tendrils of invisible force drawing him in inexorably. 

Jason fought, clawed, fired everything he had to get free, but his Power levels were low and for all the damage he inflicted, the LionZord received double for all of Billy and Skye's desperate assistance. 

_"Can't … can't shake him!"_ Jason called out, systems going critical around him as he strove to wrest the Orb still secure in LionZord's jaws away from this danger. 

_"You've got to."_ Billy attacked again, realising with a sinking feeling he might have to invoke Skye now and reached for the Glyph again, looking across at Skye with a desperate apology in his eyes – and then they were clipped hard enough to throw them around like beans in a tin. Billy hit the console and slid momentarily unconscious to the floor, leaving Skye barely able to help themselves, let alone Jason. 

"Jason! You've got to get free. Billy's out of it and ... LOOK OUT!" Skye babbled, wrenching at the fried controls. 

A deflected world destroyer blast from the other battle raging behind them in space, spread and hurtled towards them as they all tried to jet clear in a clumsy scramble. A bit further … a bit further … but the grappling Zords were caught in the very edge of the energy, and all Skye heard was a cry from Jason as they were tossed around by the tidal wave of plasma force.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


The Ninjetti MegaZord Warrior fought the Dragon Avatar with all its might in a bizarre, star- strewn enactment of the legend of St George. There were no superlatives that were meaningful enough to describe the immensity of the construct, or the forces that were involved every time it swung a sword that seemed it could slice the moon, or in the immense spirit Power it wielded. 

Still though, the Dragon Avatar was bigger, stronger and vicious with the imperative imposed upon it by the Darkness Visible. 

It was strange how the mind of this Ninjetti warrior worked, knowing and sensing as if by instinct the conclusion from the individual minds adding to a whole. It battled, seeing the tell-tale arc of energy rise up the spine of the Dragon and powered up the sword with the Ninjetti Spirit Power that was the only effective weapon against this monster. 

The head whipped forward and the sword, in a flash of light sheared the blast AWAY from Earth towards the more distant sun, which would not be harmed. 

The dragon roared in frustration, whipping its tail around in a thunderous arc to strike the Ninjetti warrior from its defensive stance. It hit the Zord's side and individual Ninjetti were crushed in the attack, but the whole remained intact. Again and again they battled, loss of individual lives in each strike causing pain and destruction in this cataclysmic struggle, seemingly going nowhere until from somewhere in the united consciousness a thought rose and gathered strength. 

When the dragon roared, there had been no force field around the mouth, where they had freed Dulcea. 

And someone – Trini, deeply buried in the subconscious of the Megazord – realised the implications of the thought, connected the observation with a possibility she had witnessed in the Prophecy on Triforia: 

_"In that Darkness no Light exists, but it is swallowed by Darkness. Yea, even that of the Shahin Tara Zed"_

Swallow did not mean defeated! It meant literally what it said! The clue had been there all along! The way to finish the Dragon was to fire the Shahin Tara Zed, Tommy, the Arrowhead that was his glyph shape, down its very throat! 

The thought percolated, developed and exploded into the Warrior's consciousness and so Tommy found himself detached long enough to invoke the power within him. The Master Power was fuelled by that implicit belief that if it came down to it, the fate of the world, of everything, was down to him. That tortured part of him, grown from the guilt of being responsible for his deeds as the evil Green Ranger, was nowshowing its positive side. If he could believe he was responsible for nearly destroying the world, he had the capacity for believing he could likewise SAVE his home. 

The words were spoken to release his Master Power, and that fierce falcon energy; the force of air and fire, passion and intensity forged himself and his Zord into an arrowhead of White Power. Pure, dazzling and deadly he became the arrowhead as the Ninjetti Warrior Zord carved an arc of energy through space and nocked their final arrow to a bow of starlight. 

Sensing the culmination of events the Avatar of the Darkness Visible, Serpentera Reborn, feeding on the lives of Nid-hi wielders of the spirit power, coiled around the void, drawing plasma lightning up its dark serpent spine. Crackling up its throat, lighting the cavernous maw with the energy more akin to the heart of a star, the planet-destroying creature roared, and as it opened its gaping maw the might of the Shahin Tara Zed was loosed from the Warriors bow, channelling the hopes of the weary defenders into the killing point. 

Into the fire, into the heart of darkness, hard, resolute energy focused in Tommy's will, diamond hard, piercing and unstoppable. Into the jaws of Darkness itself, Tommy yelled a ringing battle cry that resounded through the Ninjetti collective. He could NOT be stopped! He would NOT be stopped! He was a singing flame through space, a thunderbolt of justice cast by a protective deity and he would destroy those that threatened his love, his friends, his family, and his home. 

And the Arrow, the Shahin Tara Zed, plunged into the mouth of their adversary, as it was about to loose the killing shot that would destroy them. 

Part of the energy did escape, enough to blow the overstrained Ninjetti warrior apart into damaged component Zords, a scattering of spinning motes of metal against the battlefield of space. 

The Star Striking Falcon ripped down the inside of the monstrous construct, segments rupturing and bleeding white fire as it writhed in an agony of mortal injury and defeat. The explosions slowed as if the deadly missile had become lodged in its metallic gut and tore it apart from the inside out. 

A ragged, almost disbelieving babble of triumph gathered pace, though to Rocky's ears they were drowned out by the desperate yearning cry from Kim calling Tommy's name over and over. 

_"He's … still there somewhere,"_ he managed when he remembered how to think. _"Still there."_ Had they just won? He ... couldn't think. Had they? Where was Kat? 

But as the wounded, damaged Ninjetti watched the death throes of the dragon-thing, dizzy from their experience and scarcely comprehending their situation, it was a cruel time for them to turn and realise their perceived victory was going to be completely worthless in the light of what was happening closer to the sun.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


The Red LionZord was crippled and the Darkness Visible seized the Orb of Order, glorying in its possession. It was so small to contain such power, but he knew the size he saw was a perceptual illusion.   
  


The being's form fluctuated with pure pleasure. "It is mine! Once more it is mine and I shall control it with its opposite. Chaos shall awaken Order; Order shall govern Chaos under my direction. There will be no law that cannot be broken or rewritten, the universe shall conform to my Will!" 

Surely it could be permitted this exultation. After so long, millions of years, he was so close to unlocking the secret. All that time in exile, he had sought other dimensions, found the unfindable and then returned, knowing he could unlock the Power that had eluded him. A power born of the spirit; why, that first Ninjetti Master had been able to wake it to his touch where he had not. But he had learnt the way and created his own version of the Great Power, using the Nid-hi and was more than a Master. He was the origin of the religion, after all. There would be no limits to what he could do, create, destroy with the merest effort. Each Orb was a solidified representation of multi-dimensional forces of reality. Even dormant, the natural swirling of reality around it created miracles of nature. These humans for example, they had been lucky and resilient beyond belief. But then after he found the Orb of Chaos he had been similarly blessed. It had been worth the trials even if it didn't respond to his will then without eating away at him – but it would submit to his mind when its twin lay within his grasp. Where Chaos consumed, Order would replenish, and where Order consumed, Chaos would replenish. Balance and Power beyond imagining. He smiled and drew the precious object inside his craft, assuming a physical form to do this final act.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Skye knelt beside Billy, pale with panic and fear. "For God's sake, wake up! Stop him! I can't DO anything like this." An immense dread had reached inside of him and curdled his insides into ice that burned. "Jason?! JASON! Please … please, I can't do anything until Billy is awake!" 

There was only the barest hint of a presence there. _*... trying ... *_ A mind presence saturated in pain and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth in a horrifying echo of Jason's condition. 

Skye reached and drew back, assessing what would be the most help at this point. Jason could not help him, not like that. Well, he may not have access to full power, but he could use what had naturally been his. Concentrating, and hoping it would be soon enough, he drew the healing energy and poured it into Billy to bring him round and able to act. It worked swiftly enough, but he did not dare commit too much energy to the healing for fear he might need it soon for other things. 

Billy stirred and sat up groaning, warm blood trickling down his face. "What ..." He didn't get to finish his question before he leapt to the console of the stricken WolfZord. "He got it? Oh God." The Blue Wolf Ninjetti swallowed, blond hair stained dark with blood. "Oh God, no ..." 

This was it, they had failed. Full circle back to where they started this path; to when he was a failure, nothing but a fixer who was broken himself. He tried to rally himself, having to face the real possibility he had doomed them all. 

"There are two Orbs there," Skye said in a quiet, sickened voice. "They awaken. The Darkness Visible has no idea what it is doing … no idea!" His voice rose again as the panic seeped out once more. 

The dissonance grew in him, that source of the echoes that had reached into the past to warn them that there was more at stake than a world or even a galaxy. 

"Billy?! It's wrong ... so ... terribly wrong, I feel it ..." Skye had his hands clasped over the embedded Star Crystal in his forehead which was sending dizzying, alarming waves through him as if reality around them had started to spiral and melt. 

Billy looked at his Reality Node finder with growing horror, deducing what was happening. The Darkness Visible was not going to control these forces. To his experienced eye the patterns of Power resembled a black hole singularity and a supernova linking in an infinite loop of expansion. They weren't BALANCING, they were growing! He opened the communications channel, fumbling desperately to hail the Darkness Visible. "Take them apart … separate them! I beg you, just take them apart!" he pleaded. Pride had no place here and now. He could sacrifice that along with everything else. "Don't you see what is happening? They are FEEDING off of each other!" 

"And your point is?" The Darkness Visible stared down at the two orbs floating in suspension fields as he drew them closer together. Oh, they were beautiful, so beautiful in a way that was hard to quantify. How could you explain that one as it wakened was full of the brightness of universes born, star-children joyfully setting forth on their bright journeys through time and space, and the other full of the glories of universes dying, the sweeping power of entropy and the blazing fires of hope in the darkness. 

It was like seeing the eyes of God and viewing the Soul Of All Things through that visionary portal – and all that brought forth in the Darkness Visible was a need to control, to own and possess that Soul and call it his own. 

"My point is that they are drawing energy from other dimensions, they are not limited by physics HERE. " Billy shouted as if volume would convey the urgency of his message. 

"I know." So beautiful, they were singing to each other, yearning to their opposite. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti could not touch him now. No Prophecy could defeat him, all that time of planning and plotting and manipulating coming together in a perfect moment of culmination. 

"You KNOW? But when they get enough power, reality will rip! Rip across dimensions!" Billy was yelling now. "For God's SAKE! What good will that do anyone?" 

"I shall control it, I shall step outside the rip into the Outside and become the Source," the Darkness Visible said in a hushed tone. 

Billy was momentarily flabbergasted by the arrogance of the entity. How could he think so much of himself as to believe that he could control such Power? To Billy, who constantly found evidence of failure in his own self, the actual rather major flaw in this plan was glaringly and frighteningly obvious. It all relied on the Darkness Visible actually being able to hand the Orbs and that was VERY unlikely. 

"You think it will be a small thing? It will drop through the reality thresholds like a lead weight through tissue paper and they will all fold in on top of it!" Billy was desperate now. Why was it that NONE of his weapons worked? 

There was a sudden shift and a disorientating sensation as if existence had lurched sideways and Billy turned to look at Skye with a cold, cold feeling inside. The end had begun.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


The Zha'kha-rhee'aa had never had occasion to think that on any level he might be mortal. He was a being of very little matter and a high proportion of energy; physical danger was in practicality non-existent until he had crossedthe paths of the Ninjetti. They fought with energy, and for the first time all those aeons ago he had realised he could be hurt. And to a being that was out to dominate and control, discovering a weakness in himself was crushing. He had thought himself a god, and to some worlds, to many worlds before his defeat, he had been omnipotent. So his ambition had been to become truly invulnerable, to achieve the level of power that would make him ultimately untouchable and ensure immortality. Even so, it never occurred to him there might be a Power involved that he could not handle. Why should he think of that? He'd never yet found a situation in which he had not triumphed. 

So it was with an arrogance and hubris born of ignorance that he had disregarded the chattering worries of the child Ninjetti. Who would know better? One who had existed longer than their planet had had sentient life forms, or a mere stripling of the Ninjetti? 

He was betting on his own experience and knowledge. After all, he had outwitted and out-manoeuvred their entire council of the Wise. Resolutely he moved the two orbs close … and they sang. Energies flowed in a brightening vortex from one to the other and back again in an infinity loop and he experienced a soaring exultation as he stepped closer. There was a strange disorientation as if instead of the Orbs being small it was himself who was immense and about to touch two self-contained universes. 

If he had listened with his instincts and his heart, he would have felt the terrible outcry of wrongness that resonated through their reality and touched the spirits of those attuned in a wordless cry of desperation. He did not listen, he saw only what he wanted to see and as the rip began, a slow rending of the flesh of space, he moved forward to claim his bright destiny. 

If it were that easy it would have been done before. There were more powerful beings in the universe than the Darkness Visible who could have followed the same quest and taken that power if it were just a matter of finding the Orb and laying hands upon them. If the Zha'kha-rhee'aa had considered itself anything less than the most superior being in existence, he might have reached that conclusion, but instead he ignored the worried promptings of his own mind and reached for the Orbs. 

Tingling, strange tingling, no, a burning and pulling at the touch. He extended his will over the two Orbs, expecting them to fall under his sway with little resistance. A bad mistake. The Powers lunged at the connection, hungry and bright. 

Chaos tore at his mind, a ravening beast with claws of entropy that slashed at his most private self; Order sent prison bars of boundaries into him, through him, impaling even the energy self so there was no escape. 

All the while the Abyss opened before him, a hungry maw that would consume everything, filled with … filled with horror beyond his imaginings. It seemed a strange thing to say of a creature that had existed for millions of years, but in the grand scheme of things he was young, and naïve, and had not considered that there would be things beyond his comprehension and his imagination. 

He was torn apart molecule by molecule, bleeding slowly into the infinite realities that gaped before him and tossed his agonised atoms across myriad streams of time and space. 

He could not stop the screams; of pain and of shock as his body form dissolved with a hideous deliberation, his energy flesh melting into component subatomic energies as his thought form skeleton was forcibly preserved by the influence of the Orb of Order. 

"Help me! HELP ME!" The cries were curiously insubstantial as if the Zha'Kha-rhee'aa's golden voice was being eaten away with the rest of his being. "Too strong, the abyss …" 

That last was in a whisper of such consuming horror that chilled the listener's blood. 

Billy stared at the dissolving Nid-hi craft, melting as if acid burnt inside each atom. Inexorably they were being drawn in themselves, and he was powerless to prevent it or to do anything about this! And still the Darkness Visible filled the void with screams as his final 'bones' sundered and smashed into non-existence; a final if unmerciful end to the one willing to tear apart the universe so he could control it. 

_How do I fight this?_

Billy looked up, possibly the only one who realised the import of this event, how this tiniest hole would unravel everything into it, growing exponentially until it collapsed everything, literally everything. The Earth, this Solar system or even galaxy would be an acceptable loss if it could be stopped. Unbidden the warning that had come with the last Prophecy surfaced. 

_" The threat is more than that which threatens the Light alone - All is threatened in the Fall of Darkness."_

Like everything else now it seemed so perfectly clear with all shade of ambiguity removed by the light of hindsight. 

_"Get away from here, everyone get away…" _He yelled out across the link – he needed time and they were already within the event horizon, able to see the two orbs dancing together in an ever-increasing frenzy, and the reality distortion as space was stretched and drawn into the abyss at their heart. 

_Think Billy, think, what could they do about this_? He reached into the recesses of his mind, considered the options fantastic and outrageous, but the conclusion was inescapable, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it. And he had no more time for denial. He looked up at Skye, knowing he had no choice now and it seemed that some sort of force aligned around them, thickening the atmosphere so the words were clumsy and thick with emotion sticking in his throat and mouth. 

"Skye ..." 

"It's okay, Billy, I know." Skye didn't make him say any more. Or make him ask for permission – it was best that the agreement was unspoken, or else one or other of them would break. "It has to happen, we are all dead anyway, and I do not know if even this can hope to succeed, but we have to try ... don't we?" 

"But what can we do?" Billy asked rhetorically. The enemy was gone, how did they fight a disaster like this? 

_"Look to your strengths," _his wolf spirit advised, the fear even in its voice._ "Remember the lessons of the Master Power Quest."_

The lessons? He remembered the symbolism of the quest – it seemed strange, but it had almost forecast some of what had occurred, Justin dead, Zack poisoned, Jason passing into fire. Which meant the final scene over the chasm, Skye sacrificing them both into the abyss … No … 

He moved away from that. What was it Ninjor had said? That the true depth of their Power came from their instincts and their choices. What had he been doing? Not fighting at the last, but solving an intricate puzzle, aligning a key. He glanced up suddenly and terribly alert as inspiration flashed. There was no one left to fight, which left them, only the pair of them left … not to fight, but to mend and heal. When had Skye ever been a weapon? He fought to defend only, not to attack ... he was no warrior, he was … a healer. 

And what was he himself? The old memories of bitter recrimination came back to him, but this time without the emotion. _Nothing but a fixer._

How easily was a blade mistaken for a sword when it could just as easily be a scalpel. Damn, he had been right all along! They were not meant to fight anything, all along they had been chosen and trained to heal and fix. That was their purpose, and if they could be said to have a Destiny to fulfill, it would be that. 

Billy looked at Skye again and nodded his agreement. With a trembling hand over his Blue diamond glyph, he stared at the reason and justification for this death sentence he was about to pronounce. There was no other way, and his trembling fingers touched the sparkling gem on his chest. 

"I am the Will of the Phoenix, and I invoke the Great Power in full measure and summon the Star Phoenix to heal this rift, no matter what the cost." It was said in a dull, defeated tone as if the battle had already been lost somehow. To Billy, this was a personal failure as he had vowed privately that this would NOT happen. And yet, when all was said and done, even in view of the doubts of the mentors, he did have the courage to make the hard and lonely decisions. Once again not because necessarily the other would not do so, but because they would not realise the danger. Skye had said that, not long after they had first met . _Not out of lack of courage, but through lack of knowledge, _the sort of knowledge that was a curse because you could not comprehend it without having to take action. At least in some ways it answered that constant questioning in his heart and mind of why him, here and now, taking this most terrible step. He was glad in some ways that he was sure he would be with his friend and would share his fate, though his spirit reached to Trini. He could not abandon Skye now, not in these end moments. 

The embedded Star Crystal blazed in the artist's forehead and Skye felt the fierce bright light fill him with a dizzying power that grew in him and pushed outwards as the now named Spirit enveloped him. He felt a strange dual sensation of being Skye the individual and also Phoenix immense, Powerful beyond belief, and he seemed a mere fragment in that being, a convenient channel for the Spirit to manifest. When he looked he could see through the eyes of the Phoenix and simultaneously through his own, seeing Billy staring at him and looking down at his hands that filled and burned with stars as if the universe had inverted and pushed all of itself into the fragile human form. The liberated Phoenix essence spread ghost wings of flame and engulfed the battered WolfZord and Billy into its body. 

_"Your Will?" _came the question from the Phoenix resonating in the young Ninjetti's mind. 

_"We have to fix this rip in realities,_" Billy commanded, still staring at the figure translucent with light that was his friend._ "That must be done at all costs."_

The Phoenix voice seemed uncertain, the light flickering and dimming_. "The forces are great, even for Phoenix-kind to deal with. But the command has been issued."_

It was strange to hear the echoes of Skye's voice within that sound. Billy could barely see his physical form through the spirit flames and swirling universe stars, but managed to move himself over as they plunged towards the heart of the disturbance. 

Immense, the rift yawned open like a predator's jaw as the Orbs danced their endless infinite waltz together into that Abyss, compelling all things to follow in their wake in a spiral to eventual destruction. 

The Phoenix fire streamed towards it, feathers of light torn into streams of energy as it flew close. There was pain. Somewhere in that light Billy dropped to his knees, sweat beading his forehead as agony started clenching its fist in his insides. Twisting pain as physical integrity was tested and became unconvinced of its ability to exist here, though the Phoenix renewed itself moment to moment, allowing the death of molecules to occur, drawing strength from the spirit of its host. 

Every passing second the rip grew exponentially, deadly in its greed. Those that had not been able to flee were now sucked in, torn and consumed through the heart of the two Orbs. It took much of the strength of the Phoenix to fight the irresistible pull of this reality singularity. 

They needed to fix the fabric of their universe, but that meant they had to extract the cause, stop the cause before they could patch the hole. 

_"Wolf-chosen, I would use your mind through mine, for you have a great knowledge of the grids of Power and how to manipulate them," _the Phoenix requested as it struggled fruitlessly to do both at the same time. 

Billy had not considered he might be an active part of this process, and not having any reason not to commit himself further he agreed, letting himself be drawn into the mind of the Phoenix and opening his eyes to 'see' through Phoenix eyes. 

He could see the Universe patterns, the grids of Power, so many different types it was hard to comprehend. It was as if someone had taken an immensely complicated three-dimensional tapestry and shot a hole through it, and the weave was unravelling at an alarming rate as it was pulled from the other side. Not just here, but everywhere in the multiverse. God, that was a burden so large Billy couldn't even comprehend how to deal with it. Suddenly, only being responsible for a galactic war was tolerable and much more preferable. 

But he found he could take those threads and see the way to mend them; if he concentrated, if he felt the pattern, he could mend them and hold the pattern ready if the Orbs were defeated. But it would be like designing a perfectly shaped plug for a hole that had a large obstruction in it, and each moment that the obstruction was there it changed the shape of the hole. He kept pace as Skye as the Phoenix struggled to separate the Orbs. 

Phoenix battled with the orbs as they wrought their terrible destruction. Wings of spirit flame struggled to keep pace in the maelstrom of energies as similar effects occurred to that which had happened to the Darkness Visible. Energies ripped him asunder and locked him in place and all the time, the small internal voice that was the individual of Skye blessed Billy's choice that had made him Phoenix, a creature of Paradox that could fight that internally. Being a creature of destruction and creation, life and death, chaos and order itself. 

However, the strategy of trying to tear the Orbs apart was not succeeding. He did not have the strength for all the Command forced him to try long beyond the endurance of pain he had as a human. He was failing, and the command laid whips to his soul to not accept that as a final answer. Its greatest strength and cruellest manifestation; the refusal to let him die before his task was accomplished.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Out in space itself, with more than half the surviving Ninjetti injured and most of them floating all but powerless, the survivors could only watch as companions and enemies were sucked in towards their destruction in that anomaly that had all their Spirit Animals sounding great alarm and panic. 

_"What is happening there_?" Kim asked Rocky who was with great weariness trying to re-establish communications, though his Master Power was fading in itself now. _"Billy?! Can you reach him? Or Skye?"_

Rocky shook his head. Agony if he tried, and he was totally drained from being in the DragonSlayer Megazord_. "I can't, Kim, I can't …"_

_"Trini?" _Kim fought her own weariness and anxiety by trying to organise what was happening. 

There was a muffled sensation of grief._ "They've gone in there, they … don't know if it can be fixed, but Billy and Skye – there is only the Phoenix now."_

She should have known that Billy would not be able to let Skye do it alone, she had felt him reach out privately at the last through everything, she had tried so hard to go after him, but her TigerZord was dead in space and then it was too late. Let the universe die. It would hold nothing more for her. 

_"It's not over yet_." Kim was also facing the fact that she may have lost Tommy, for all Rocky said he was barely alive, but she was going to fight this all the way._ "Would they want us to give up? No. We can't, or everything they do now is for nothing!"_

_"What resources do we have? Who has not used their Master Power yet_?" Adam asked, determined to save Tanya from disappearing into that chasm. The Yellow OryxZord tumbled slowly towards that monstrous thing. 

It was Kim and Trini who responded to that out of them all, the only two who had not invoked their Master Power. The Master Powers of Protection and of Warp. 

_"But, what is it we can do?" _Trini asked, her cheeks tear-stained and streaked with blood already. _"Nothing is worth anything if they fail … and …" _She couldn't say it aloud, but it was becoming blatantly obvious that at this moment they were not succeeding. 

_"Billy and Skye would want us to save everyone we can," _Adam asserted with a surety that could not be shaken_. "You know how important his friends and family are to him. If ... no, when he succeeds, you want him to find lives were lost because we waited to try and save them in case nothing would?"_

_"Trini … Trini can warp them to safety,_ " Rocky said in inspiration, clutching at his ribs as he shifted, revealing the possibility that it was not just the ApeZord that had taken damage. _"You can, can't you?"_

_"I guess so, if there is somewhere safe to send them?" _Trini wondered to herself whether she could save Billy and Skye, too. Warping people to safety had not been something that she considered. She would try. She had to try. 

_"Well, Kim is Protection, right?" _Kat chimed in, coughing a little as she did so._ "She could protect the Earth and them?" _She was feeling a little dizzy now and couldn't remember why, only that she was so very tired_. "Shield home, and us. Shield" _The words tasted metallic in her mouth for some reason. 

_"Rocky, link to everyone so I can find them," _Trini said resolutely, her experession set and determined._ "And I will do this. I can do this!"_   
  
  
  


_***_

  
  
  
  
  


Phoenix flame flickered and guttered in invisible storms of energy. 

_"I can't DO this! I can't!" _That was Skye's despair, echoing the failing strength of the final, greatest creation of the Ninjetti. Command or not, death was claiming them. It was in that echo of the despair he had felt on their journey to seek new Ninjetti, when they were with the Chi'iten, that he remembered the Voice that told him to learn to exist in Paradox. What could be more paradoxical than two opposites existing in harmony? If they could not be separated, then maybe they could be fused. With a binding glue of Paradox. With the very essence of the Phoenix. 

The decision was made, the individual self of Skye was a mote of dust in the forces involved, but even so he reached for Billy's mind and a last final comfort conveying the course of action to him with a wistful farewell implicit in his words. 

_"If I ... Phoenix succeeds, you know what will happen?"_ Skye asked in his mind 

_"A backlash of the surplus energy, like a supernova."_ Billy responded his mind, flashing thoughts that strained his comprehension, trying to keep pace with the ever-changing needs of the universe. _"It will destroy Earth."_

Skye gave a slight smile, that strange resonance with Kim that had existed from his healing of the Crane Ninjetti all that time ago bypassing the thwarted communication of words. He knew not in words but in feelings she was getting ready to protect Earth, and their friends as best as she could. _"Kim is going to try and stop that. I will try and reach her in warning. Are you ready, Billy?"_ He asked, gentle now at the last. 

The Wolf Ninjetti's eyes glistened in the brilliant light that surrounded them. _"It is what has to be done. Forgive me?"_

Skye opened his mind to Billy in those last moments so he could feel everything, that there was truly nothing to forgive. That he had truly discovered to regard this as a gift rather than a tragedy. He had been given his life back and knew he had a purpose, and it had been sweet, wonderful to find such friends and experience such love. As the Star Phoenix began to force the two Orbs together, pouring its essence into the resulting single object, Skye's life began to fade along with that of the Phoenix. 

The Phoenix energy was healing the rift, drawing too much raw energy from everywhere. More energy than any physical being could hold and bear, they both knew that, trapped in the heart of the Phoenix itself. Skye was dying … and so was Billy as that same protection faded, as all their powers, all the accelerated parts of his mind began to unravel when Phoenix impossibly merged the two forces together. 

Now was the moment and everything, including time itself, slowed and shuddered as Order and Chaos met in the ever-changing being of the Phoenix. 

Skye reached for Kim and Trini in that instant, empathically sending an irresistible urge to invoke their Master Powers immediately with what strength he had left. 

Scarcely without comprehending, two separate invoking cries sprang forth and with the reach of her mind, Trini, the Gold Tiger Ninjetti, gathered all who were left and her mind could touch and shimmered them through space to the battered sanctuary of Earth with a mighty effort fuelled by her need to live up to her love's expectations. At the last she reached for the two within the furious boiling light and darkness that swirled in the void before them as the power turned to take her to safety as well. Tried SO hard to reach him, to hold him just one more time, one last time, to say she loved him again, to say she needed him … 

But he was lost to her. They both were in the midst of fire and any mental probe she made burned away instantly. "Remember your promise!" she called out fruitlessly as she warped herself away, exhausted finally and weeping unashamedly now she could see no hope at all. 

Kim reached after that tendril of presence, that warmth and resonance she associated with Skye beiginning to fade away completely, its threatened absence bringing a chill to her. "No … don't go … please ... don't ... I can't hold this alone." 

The responses were not words, but impressions, flickers of images. He was trying so hard to reach her. 

_~Mustmustmustprotectfindstrength~ _– it was an insistent surge of emotion. Enhanced as he was by his spirit form, he could sense that subtle alteration in body energy and with his last effort sent, _~mothernowprotectunbornearthmotherprotect~_ before the presence faded completely. 

What? Had he been trying to say what she thought he had been trying to say? Was it what she thought? 

Kim, unable to stop herself, looked down at her stomach and rested a hand there as if trying to sense something different. She looked back up with a fierce expression on her face. This could be the only thing she had left; she _had_ to protect it. She could be pregnant, she could be a mother and Skye had never lied to her, never and he had been connected to her at such a deep level after her healing that surely he would know. A maternal spark fuelled her determination as she created a shield between that strange tormented anomaly of space, which was drawing in on itself in an ominous fashion, and her family, friends and their home. Last line of defence and she would hold. She had good reason to.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


As the Orbs became one, the energy poured in and Billy let the pattern he had fixed, using a speed of thought and calculation he would never have dreamed possible, loose into the Phoenix to patch that hole in reality. 

The energies wavered unstable and then, as if taking deep breath, paused, drew in before announcing the birth of a new single power in an explosion of coruscating light. 

Billy screamed silently into the brightness as he felt that tearing away, as the rebirth energies of the phoenix as he had hoped, as he had prayed when he had chosen the spirit form for his friend on Phaedos, gathered around the dying remnants of what was Skye. 

The Wolf Ninjetti closed his eyes to say a last farewell, only to feel something move around him, like a friend's last embrace, as the rebirth energies were pushed to take him instead. 

A final split second. Face to face in a thought as realities swirled around them. 

_"My last choice."_ Skye gave a faint, wistful smile. Anger, and self-pity had passed into an unnatural peace. _"My only choice. For the ones I love."_

_"It was meant for you,"_ Billy replied hopelessly, in their touch of thoughts and emotions. 

Skye held his hand a moment, half turning to leave him. _"You've already given me a life, Billy … it's the one I've been living. All your life, Billy, you have sacrificed for others. Now you must receive, and sometimes that is a harder thing to do. Take my gift, Billy. It's the only thing I have left for you both, and I'm not even sure if I am strong enough to make it a proper one, but I have to try."_

_"But Skye, I … I can't ..." _He couldn't leave a friend behind, but he had no choice. 

_"You can … you will. For Trini's sake." _An expression of pain crossed his face as he finally let go of Billy's hand, withdrew from his friend to stand alone_. "Goodbye Billy, no regrets. Never any regrets. Remember that and remember me."_

The energy seemed to imprison him, crystallising around him and Billy felt his wolf spirit, his own spirit lift its voice in a silent wolfsong of farewell as it engulfed him entirely. Before the light faded, he could feel the warmth of Skye's touch over his heart and maybe half caught words half seen … half heard of 'Remember me' … and maybe another word before Skye's unwanted gift claimed him as its own. 

The old Phoenix, its life short in duration, bright in glory and great in purpose, passed away, all of it thrown into the balancing of the forces of Chaos and Order. It had succeeded, and the sudden birth cry of the new Orb fountained energy throughout the levels of reality, exploding out with the power of a supernova. Fragments hurtled out ahead of the light wave, shooting off at incredible speed and Kim cried out as the meteor show ricocheted off of her shield. 

She would hold, she would protect the Earth, without her it would all be for nothing here and now. She had to shield them, shield Tommy and … their child? Their child! It was a mantra recited over and over, fanning the Master Power into a blazing barrier over the Earth as the deadly result of their final triumph sought to obliterate friend and foe. 

A final flare of defiance strengthened the shield a last critical bit as the shockwave slammed against it, pushing her back though Kim yelled in protest, pushing back, pushing back ... HOLDING … as the world was washed over by the fire of collapsing stars and all things burned with light. 

And then it was gone. 

The silent starfield of space settled once more, rendered whole again by a miracle of the Great Power and there could be no greater memorial to the sacrifice of all the Ninjetti than the continued existence of the universe they strove to protect no matter the cost. For once again the War had left nothing but the shattered remains of a noble army of warriors and a group of survivors who were silent in the aftermath. 

Strangely it was Rocky who spoke the first words after that terrible cataclysm, he whose Master Power had been communication lived up to that instinct with a surprising whispered quote from his religious upbringing. "Your Sun shall no more go Down, or your moon withdraw itself …" 

Prophets everywhere, even on Earth, had given the warning and now that it was over their tasks turned to dealing with the consequences of survival.   
  
  


**Epilogue**

  
  
  
  
  
  


It was perhaps typical that it happened the way it did. The mysterious large ovoid of night-dark crystal had been guarded night and day for nearly two months and yet when someone needed to be there, there was no one on watch. 

Adam, who had taken to flying long sweeps alone as a way of dealing with his private loss for his friends had discovered the sizeable object tumbling on its way out of the solar system at escape velocity. Trajectory plotting eventually showed that it had come directly from the reality rip vicinity, which meant it could be something to do with Billy, Skye, the Darkness Visible or something from some unknown reality. Either way, it seemed that it couldn't be allowed to wander aimlessly through space, though there were many who had raised objections when the Black Frog Ninjetti had stirred himself from depression and caught the object with FrogZord's tongue to bring it back to Earth. 

Its arrival caused a great debate but, when it came down to it, no one could deny Trini that slim impossible hope she was clinging to that allowed her to function in these aftermath days; that the crystalline object would somehow provide some connection to Billy, or a way to bring him back. So it had been allowed in to the Power Chamber, to a secure area and placed under constant guard and studied to see if it were dangerous or a mere lifeless chunk of fused crystal. 

Strangely the prison for the bizarre dark object formed a rare place of solitude and peace in the bustling Power Chamber. The place had expanded into practically a miniature city as the Zeebeedees had adapted their functions and turned to delving and excavating, rebuilding and constructing, so that the Ninjetti had a home of sorts. For many of them, there was nowhere else now that they could turn to, though Dulcea planned to take many of them back to Phaedos to try and start afresh there. As she had said, there was no further purpose in Phaedos being a legendary planet anymore. It was time it once more lived and breathed, and the Ninjetti whose homeworlds had been ravaged, who were too injured in body and mind to return to the past, could begin there to make a fresh future. Grand plans indeed. Many Ninjetti would return home given time, but right now they felt a debt to the planet that had become a battlefield and wished to assist in its recovery if they could. 

It was patently obvious, however, that there were not that many of the original force left. Scarcely a hundred thousand out of the original two million spirit warriors had survived, and a frightening quantity of them had been injured. Of the Ninjetti Masters and warriors of Earth, they had lost Justin, Zack, Delphine in the final battle, and of course Vy-Ru before that. The Drakin Ninjetti Master, J'shaar, had died of his injuries three days after the end of the war, having lost the will to live when he discovered his beloved Sisthaa had been killed in the DragonSlayer Megazord. They had fought to save Aisha from a similar fate, knowing that the strength of the Master Ninjetti could also be their undoing when that true love departed. Aisha, true to her spirit animal, found an inner strength to bear that burden, finding comfort in the possibility that she could choose to have Zack's children one day if she wished. With a foresight that had stemmed from a bleak realistic view of the way things could turn out even if they were victorious, Billy had insisted on a program to collect appropriate reproductive specimens from them all prior to the conflict and put them into storage. It had seemed cold and clinical at the time and they had shied away from the suggestion, but it seemed their unassuming friend had realised and faced the future they had not. 

Adam had been contemplating the past few months whilst he stood watch over the strange item, something he did frequently for the solitude and peace it seemed to give him. He found it easier to think alone; others might need other people as sounding boards, but he was of the type that had to clear things in his own mind before discussing them, now more than ever. 

He knew he had been lucky in that he had suffered little more than superficial cuts and bruises at the last - though even now he tired very easily as if he had suffered a debilitating illness. That apparently was down to the unbelievable amount of energy they had expended invoking their full Powers. They had to be careful as the Master Ninjetti, even those relatively unhurt, were in such a weakened state that they were prone to illness and had to be stopped from trying to assuage their survivors' guilt in overwork. 

The Black Frog Ninjetti studied his hand a moment, watching the fingers quaver slightly in proof of that assessment. Well, it was an improvement. His father, sporting a broken arm from the attack on the Power Chamber, had been furious with him when he nearly collapsed after going out scouting on long missions deep into the far reaches of their solar system and beyond. Even now he found it hard to express what he was looking for out there. Some final answer, maybe, as to what had happened in those last moments with Billy, Skye and the Darkness Visible. 

Startling and unbidden tears welled up in his eyes and now he didn't even fight them; the slightest trigger, a thought, a memory could have this effect and was part of the reason he preferred to be alone. It was difficult enough to deal with people when your emotions were under control, let alone when they could surprise you by being so close to the surface. Answers would help. Jason's father had said that, that one of the reason he looked so hard for answers and solve the crime cases he was assigned was that they enabled him to control his emotions by defining what he could feel. That was what he needed, some form to give his responses. Should he be feeling guilt? Anger? Loss? At the moment those emotions and a myriad more merged and blended into an uncontrollable mass. But what answers could he get? Rocky had been unable to connect to them there, and the story they had pieced together was sketchy and unsatisfying. They had heard Kim and Trini's story and had witnessed the Phoenix fly in after the Darkness Visible, but ... he didn't know what drove him, but he was obsessed with knowing what had happened in there as if somehow that would allow his restless emotions to settle and not disturb his sleep by padding through his dreams. 

Maybe that was why he had brought this crystal in, seeking to solve one mystery through another. Thank God, Tanya seemed to understand this relapse into silence and solitude; it was unfair on her, but she was going to the other extreme of drawing people together, rebuilding and organising, coping in her own fashion. He was so proud of her for doing what he knew he could not, and it was her face that millions were coming to love all over the world for her optimism and drive. 

Rocky, though still ready with a smile and a quip, seemed to have a shadow across his eyes if caught unguarded. Adam knew, with all the history between them, that Rocky did not have quite the bullet-proof optimism he portrayed and that gnawing away inside was that personal guilt about ordering Zack to what became his death. He would have talk to him about that, as it was easier to comfort others than yourself and he knew that Rocky needed to make his peace with Aisha. He had seen that haunted look on his friend's face when he looked at his one-time closest female friend. It was time it was pointed out to the Red Ape Ninjetti what a phenomenal job he had done holding the Power connected all that time and that it wasn't his fault, that Zack in the end had chosen that path to save Earth. Kat was helping him, but she had suffered some internal injuries so as yet did not have the strength to force him to see sense, and Rocky could be very, very stubborn about certain things. His depression over his back was a case in point and it was possible he thought Kat HAD to say those things because she loved him. What a mess. The frog Ninjetti sighed; tomorrow. He would talk to him tomorrow. 

It was not all so easy, though; Cestro, well, they were convinced Cestro was mentally disturbed by the shock of Delphine's death as there could be no other explanation for his rather peculiar reaction. Instead of being grief-stricken, he had come round smiling, seeming perfectly happy and denying that she was dead. Nothing they had been able to say had convinced him and in the end no one had the strength or will to contradict someone so obviously happy and at peace with himself. It was a rare enough sight for it to be treasured, not destroyed. Adam suspected that Trini's insistence that there might yet be hope, albeit a thin tenuous possibility, stemmed from a similar denial. The Council of the Wise mourned Billy and Skye as dead along with the other fallen warriors and it was hard to see how they could be wrong. It was Zordon who had explained, when he had deduced the absolute danger that had been faced by them all rather than just the invasion they had initially thought to be their priority. 

"I have never been more proud of Billy than in the moment I realised why he defied our judgement in favour of his own," the Eltarian had said. 

Adam had to agree. That must have been unbearably hard for his genius friend, who needed approval so badly, to make all those decisions; he would have hated it. It made him cold just thinking about it, cold and lonely, so the impact on Billy would have been profound. He so wanted to be able to gently tease his friend about it, to let him know how proud he was in that quiet truthful way the pair of them had shared between them that he missed so much. Again the burning sensation in his eyes as tears threatened, but he didn't care. 

Skye, too. With him it was a case that an aching painful absence made him realise how much his presence had meant, and had been taken for granted. All too clearly now, he realised that just before the battle, when the artist had had a short poignant conversation with him and then strangely, taken his hand as he said goodbye, looking directly into his own dark eyes, how much of a true farewell that had been. Then he had thought it strange and made his excuses and left … and now so wished he hadn't. Skye had known then he would die, he realised that too late for it to be meaningful. 

He sighed. His thoughts were rambling, his focus shot to pieces. Tommy and Jason would be horrified - if they weren't battling for their life and restored health. 

Tommy had indeed been alive, barely, when Trini's last massive effort had saved the Ninjetti from complete loss. Kim had hardly left his side in all the time since he surfaced from his coma, despite the fact he was unable to walk. But he had that unstoppable look in his eye ever since Kim had confirmed to him that the revelation that had given her the extra strength she needed to protect the earth had indeed been true. She was indeed pregnant and it had been a definite miracle that the strain of using her Master Power had not resulted in a miscarriage. Tommy or Kim junior, in Kim's own words, had just reached the point where she could feel it doing miniature "Sie-Kyuh!" punches and kicks inside her womb and that seemed to have filled Tommy with a determination to get well that had to be seen to be believed. He had fought his way back from the brink of death so that his child would have a father and his love would have a husband and he most definitely turned his focus forward rather than back. 

If he'd had to have predicted beforehand who would most likely be the one to brood and lapse into depression over the War, Adam would have immediately thought of Tommy. Instead … it was Jason. Jason had been badly injured, not as badly as Tommy, but the effects seemed to have been more profound for all of Dulcea's reassurances. He had internalised all the guilt for the deaths of their fellow Ninjetti, for the innocent civilian casualties that had occurred all around the world, and in particular for the deaths of Billy and Skye. 

It didn't matter how often he was told it wasn't his fault, he could not let go of the fact he had played a significant part in the near end of all things, and that it had taken the sacrifice of two of his closest friends to fix the situation he had caused. It was as if he did not believe he deserved to recover, and he rebuffed all attempts to absolve him of that guilt. He didn't want to be told Billy and Skye's death were all right, and Adam could understand that. He wanted there to be someone to blame as well, but it was not Jason who deserved that burden. Jason had been placed under intense pressure and as Zordon had rightly said, the Darkness Visible would have found another way to destroy Earth whilst he was about it. 

That was no real comfort to the Red Lion Ninjetti, Adam could tell that. He looked as if he had lost all confidence in himself and who he was, for all of his friends' and Dulcea's support. At Justin's funeral he had been barely conscious, but insisted on being there nonetheless. They had all been grim that day, but none more so than Jason, his dark eyes filled with pain both physical and emotional. Why hadn't anyone said that winning would be such hard work? Why was it the warriors seemed to punish themselves so; there was little heart for the glory right now, it was too soon after the war and wounds were still fresh. 

Musing darkly to himself, Adam examined the man-sized ovoid crystal intently to distract his mind from sombre thoughts. It was obsidian black; the light seemed to slide into it. There was something about it that focused the eye and mind. He stared and then for the first time laid his hand on the surface, touching it. It was cold, very cold. It seemed to suck the warmth from his hand immediately and he took it away again, shaking heat back into his fingers. Why had be done that? Maybe there was something strange about it. Was that a flicker of light where he had put his hand? He bent closer to stare just as someone skid in behind him, startling him. 

"Adam!" Rocky called out, steadying himself on the door. "Quick, Tommy's WALKING!" 

Adam blinked. "You are kidding me?" 

"No, seriously." The Red Ape Ninjetti was aglow with the miracle. "He is! Only a few steps, but he's really doing it ... you've got to see!" 

Adam briefly forgot his duty and ran up to witness this astounding achievement for himself, leaving his charge momentarily unattended. 

And so it was that when someone should have been there as a witness to another miracle, no one was. 

The heat from Adam's hand had been enough to wake the egg. Light glimmered from the palm shape, liquid starlight crawling across the ebony surface, streaking it with light. It was as if it had been waiting for privacy before it released its secret, and this was the only time it had been alone in warmth and safety and without someone standing guard. The rough edges sheared off, polished and smoothed by the light, so the shape became a smooth crystal Egg. There could be no more doubt to what it was; only to what lay inside it. Midnight black from one direction, another with the light shining behind it gave the impression of seeing through smoky translucent crystal to a curled foetal human form inside; a moving figure at that. 

A crack echoed in the empty room, then another. Filigree of light spread over the smooth black crystal surface of the shell, pieces dropping to the floor and tinkling like glass on the hard surface. A crash then as a large chunk broke loose as if kicked forcibly and the cohesion of the egg began to fail just as Adam, belatedly realising his abandoned duty, reached the doorway to see the Egg shaking , light streaming out from holes and cracks and an silhouette of an arm reaching out. 

With commendable speed he yelled up the corridor to where all the others were still congratulating Tommy on his first few steps. 

"Bloody ... Guys?! Guys! Back up! The Crystal Room! Now!" He yelled, waiting until he had some backup before even going far enough in the room to set off the general alert. 

From peace and quiet to chaos and noise, the Ninjetti who got there first entered the room cautiously. Jason and Rocky took the fore as Trini joined them with Kim and Dulcea, stalking carefully forward. 

"What is it?" Rocky whispered, looking to Dulcea for answers. 

The First Warrior of Phaedos shrugged. "It is nothing spoken of in the Marai Sphere or any of the Prophecies - I do not know, Rocky." She glanced across at Trini whose face was a mixture of fierce hope and bitter despair. 

In the next few moments either she would have to abandon hope or embrace it; either outcome meant accepting loss of some description. She knew what Trini hoped it was. Another glance to Jason showed the possibility it might mark the return of the evil they had fought; it was hard to accept that a people could be so emotionally flexible in their responses. She readied herself just in case. 

The Egg shape shattered, making them yelp as tiny shards flew everywhere and they shielded themselves instinctively from the hazard. 

When they turned back there was a figure lying there, in the remnants of the shell, covered with glistening liquid in a way that stirred memories of the original Ninjetti timeline before the warping of time in the Zeo era. Only it was not Zordon who lay still and unmoving in a nest of shimmering crystal. 

Unable to stop himself Adam looked automatically to the hair ... looking to see if it were a splash of bright vivid white or ... 

Dark blond. 

He closed his eyes a moment at the upsurge of emotion, but Trini was already ahead of them all and there, pulling Billy up into her arms, tears running down her face as all the emotions of the last few months she had kept in check released at once. 

He was close enough to hear her whisper. "I knew it … I knew it ..." over and over, and then more mysteriously, "He'd never break a promise," as she held a barely conscious form to her heart, not showing any signs that she was going to let go as she bent to kiss the stirring ninjetti. 

It was a turning point, it seemed, for them all. Adam could see a revelation in the wonder that spread around the room as they tried to grasp the hows and whys of this latest event. It was particularly evident in the contrast of the emotion that was on Jason's face, which recently had become so fixed in expressions of despair. The Red Lion Ninjetti looked like someone who had believed the light had gone forever and he was lost in darkness, only to have someone unexpectedly gift him a lighted candle to find his way back out to daylight. That was what had happened here, not just the return of a beloved friend; and the wetness on his own cheeks stood testament to the truth of that, but something more meaningful for all of them. 

All the time, all the way through they had GIVEN for others, and now it seemed in the return of Billy to them there was a promise that this had not gone unnoticed. And that, in some ways, was all that they needed to carry on. Some recognition that it had been worth it from the universe, the world, from someone, and that all their suffering had been worthwhile. 

And right now, in this moment, they had been given hope that it was.   
  
  
  


*** 

  
  
  
  
  


Billy stood alone, looking out over the rebuilding of Angel Grove on the top pinnacle of the Power Chamber in the evening air. He had rarely been alone since his 'rebirth' and he just needed a little time to think, or to feel. It seemed that he had woken back into awareness with the dream threads slipping away from him, all the knowledge in the universe, all the answers to every question he had ever asked pouring away. He felt empty, deprived of some intimate connection, and though he knew that would fade as here and now became more real to him, the feeling lingered like the ghost echo of a dream. 

He was happy to be alive; he was grateful beyond words to be back with everyone he knew and loved. Gratified in some ways to see how much of an impact his loss appeared to have had, though he was secretly a little guilty at that feeling he still recognised it as a human frailty. So much to catch up on and absorb. The others were two months ahead of him working through the process. To him … it had been moments before when he had last looked into Skye's eyes and he had made one final choice and given him the Phoenix Spirit's rebirth. How could he explain that to anyone else? No one else had shared that moment. No one else could ever know. 

He didn't know if it made it worse or easier to find a letter, written to him in his friends hand, propped neatly on the pillow of his friends one time room as if he had known he would be drawn there. 

A letter that said all the things that people always wanted to hear or have absolution for after someone had died. And he cursed his friend for being so damn sure, and blessed him silently for that foresight of forgiveness that so neatly took each building block of guilt and crumbled them into dust with words. 

Each time he read it, he wept. He suspected he would until his dying day. 

A slight scuff of a foot behind him made him glance over his shoulder. Jason. The Red Lion Ninjetti moved carefully, he noticed, and he still had fresh memories of what he had said, ordered to be done … and wondered if his old friend could forgive him that. 

"Just wanted to see if you were okay up here, bro," Jason said a little awkwardly, not trying to make it sound like he had struggled his way up here, pushing his recovery to the limits to do so. 

Billy glanced at him, the letter in his hand. "I'm fine, Jase." He looked up at his longtime friend, and then at the letter again. If there was one thing this letter contained, it was the knowledge that there was nothing that could not be forgiven. *_Such a simple and powerful thing.*_

"Jase ...? About ... when I said they should stop you?" he began awkwardly, not knowing how to broach the topic. "I … had to ... I _had_ to tell them to try and destroy you. I didn't want to … I …" It had hurt more than any physical injury he had received; it had felt like he had ripped out some vital part of himself. 

Jason looked surprised. That was the last thing he had expected. "_I_ was the one who nearly screwed EVERYTHING up, Billy. What you did was totally right. God, if it had been someone else, I would have given the order myself. I wasn't strong enough not to give in to him." 

Billy laughed in a short, tight parody of humour. "Jason, no one could stand that pressure, don't you understand that yet? The very nature of who we are and the strength that having a true love partner gave us could be made into a vulnerable point. You were stronger than I would have been if it had been Trini. Maybe nobody has told you, but the Darkness Visible KNEW all our weaknesses and all our moves by the end. He just lacked the final location. When it was betrayed to him, well … he threw all his resources at you and Dulcea, there was no _way_ you could do anything but what you did." 

Jason shook his head. "I nearly enabled him to destroy everything, Billy. _Everything!_" 

Billy shook his head in response to that assertion. "You were not responsible for that. Not even the Darkness Visible knew what would be let loose then, he was totally taken by surprise; the only one who might have suspected was ... Skye." He fell into silence then, fingers smoothing over the paper in his hand. 

"If it weren't for me ..." Jason began and then stopped himself, seeing suddenly that that was the wrong thing to say. 

"No, Jason. That's one burden of guilt you will never have to carry." Billy said with complete certainty. "And if Skye had his way, no one would have to take responsibility. He gave me ... everything, Jase, when it came down to it. I thought because of Trini, because I knew that he loved her. The rapport that we held, and the things that we went through, made it impossible not to know, though for some reason we did not talk about it." He looked out into the sunset, where the first bright stars were making a brave appearance even before darkness fell. "It came as a shock to discover the truth. That in the end, it was for _me_." 

Jason could not think of anything immediate to reply to that. What _could_ you say? It was a gift and a curse rolled into one, a gift that you never wanted but were forced to accept nonetheless. "You would have done the same for him." He said by way of an answer. 

"Yes, I would have, and I nearly did," Billy replied. "I had hoped, all the way along, that the choice of the Phoenix as his spirit animal would give him that chance. It had been obvious for a long time that he did not expect to survive, and I did everything I could to defy that assumption in the Prophecy. Jase, he was told he _would_ die, win or lose, and I do not know how he stood that. It was hard enough for me, knowing the odds were incredibly slim, but having that secret hope that somehow, somewhere there might be a way." The words were tumbling out, the usually quiet Ninjetti feeling the need to unburden himself for once and being unable to stop. 

"And to have to order him to that death? I saw that as a more personal version of what I was doing to everyone else … including you, Jase." Billy gazed at him again, looking for forgiveness there as well. "And as Trini said, one person can only accept so much responsibility before it consumes them. The worst thing is that I can see a perfect symmetry to everything, a perfect pattern. When I woke from the Egg, Jase, it was if I had been woken from a state in which I had ALL the answers, everything was explained and I was content and at peace, and then … I woke up and it drained away." 

Jason heard the loss in his friend's voice and was amazed at its depth. "You have us, Trini, your family …" he offered, wishing he had become more skilled with words. 

Billy nodded, acknowledging that point. "Yes, and that is what is keeping me here, that and Skye's last message and the fact that everything in our lives tested us, it seems, trained us for this encounter. It seems damned unfair that was the way it had to be, and yet ..." 

There was a long silence before Jason prompted him, "And yet what, bro?" 

"And yet it seems our purpose is not fulfilled," Billy whispered as a dusk breeze made them shiver. 

"How do you work _that _out?" Jason asked quizzically. 

"We are still alive," Billy replied simply. 

Jason couldn't argue with that, either. It was a rather effective argument and the truth was, he was very tired right now and more challenges seemed unfair if not cruel. "Maybe it is our time for our happily ever after?" he suggested with a glimmer of hope. 

Billy smiled a little, looking more like his real age rather than someone who has seen things it would take lifetimes to come to terms with. "It would be nice to think that. But I do feel guilty for ... just being alive right now. And dammit, he even knew _that_!" He half laughed as tears started to fill his eyes again. 

"Skye?" Jason confirmed before he mused, "We lost good friends, Billy, it's natural to feel survivors' guilt. It hurts now to think of Zack and Skye and the others, but I can promise you that it will get better." 

Strange, but it was if the familiarity of roles was feeding his confidence back into him. He could face his own pain to help someone through theirs, even though Billy knew all he was telling him better than most. He shot Billy a sharp glance, seeing a clear understanding of what was happening. "You are doing this on purpose, aren't you?" he said in mild accusation, seeing his long-time friend nod slowly. 

"It doesn't mean I do not need this any less. I can't talk about Skye to Trini yet," Billy replied. "She is convinced that it was because of her. Zack, Delphine, Justin, the others, I can share their loss with her, but not about him; and out of us all there were not that many who knew him that well. He was an outsider to the group and though he worked his way in, he didn't have that special closeness which all groups that grow up together achieve. There will be a tendency to grieve for the others, but not to think of him. And he doesn't deserve that from me, he doesn't deserve to go unremembered." He swallowed again as if he had spoken aloud a very private oath. 

Jason struggled trying to find something that was not a cliché to comfort his friend. "He had more of an impact than you would think, Billy. He connected with all of us one way or another and he _will_ be remembered by all of us even though he's gone." 

Billy remained still, staring as the sun glimmered brightly on the horizon, bleeding light in vivid colours across the sky. "I don't feel him gone, Jase. I … I can't. It's like, in my mind he's absent, but I can't seem to convince myself he is gone. My mind tells me he is, but …" 

Jason rested a comforting arm on the Wolf Ninjetti's shoulder. "That's natural, bro, really. I find myself doing the same with Zack. I keep expecting him to come in through the door, laughing and joking like usual," he said compassionately. 

Billy didn't answer that. How could he explain the difference when he was not sure himself? It was most likely denial because he was so involved – and yet at night he found himself listening in the darkness for that familiar mind touch as a wolf listens to the wind for the answering howl of the Pack. He sighed as the last glimmers of light faded. "The Sun goes Down ..." he murmured. "But they said nothing in any Prophecy about what the next day would bring." 

"Maybe they were not sure there _would_ be a next day," Jason replied and shivered at the chill. Now _that_ was a sobering thought. 

"Just because we fixed the universe, does that mean we are responsible for looking after it all?" Billy asked half-seriously. 

Jason twitched a smile. "Pretty much." 

"Damn, well best get an early night, then. That's going to take a LOT of work." Billy said, sounding more like his old self, though Jason was sure there would be many solitary trips away from everyone before he could come to terms with the changes these last few years had wrought on his life. 

"After you," Jason gestured, wondering if he was ever going to be able to express to his friend how proud he was of what Billy had accomplished. Too much sympathy now might break him, and he was going to have so much to deal with. All of them were. This was no mere battle that had no loose ends, this had left its scars on the very fabric of space itself; as well as physically and mentally on the warriors involved. 

Billy seemed too young to have bourne such a heavy load of responsibility as he disappeared inside; but then so had they all and they HAD done everything that had been asked of them – and more. It was going to be hard to accept, but soon, maybe when they opened themselves to the outside world, they were going to realise that they had actually WON. It was a fact that had somehow vanished under the grieving. They had literally saved the universe and perhaps it _did _owe them a happy ever after. 

The world would know what they owed his friends, Jason would make sure of that, and so would the rebuilding worlds of the Alliance of Light. Billy was right, there was a lot to be done, but at least they had the opportunity to try and do it right! 

As he followed his blond teammate back into the Power Chamber complex, he noticed a sheet of paper fluttering as if Billy had just dropped it and he hastily snatched it up before the twilight breezes whisked it away. 

He couldn't help himself, he glanced down and was immediately captivated by the clear, graceful handwritten words of the poem Skye had copied out to summarise his message to Billy.   
  
  


_Remember me when I am gone away,_   
_Gone far away into the silent land;_   
_When you can no more hold me by the hand,_   
_Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay._   
_Remember me when no more, day by day_   
_You tell me of the future that you planned;_   
_Only remember me; you understand_   
_It will be late to counsel then or pray._   
_Yet if you should forget me for a while_   
_And afterwards remember, do not grieve;_   
_For if the darkness and corruption leave_   
_A vestige of the thoughts that once I had_   
_Better by far you should forget and smile_   
_Than you should remember and be sad._

~Christina Rossetti~ 

  
  
  
  
  
  


The words stopped him in his tracks and the Red Lion Ninjetti found himself overwhelmed by memories of the young artist who of them all was the most gentle and yet had a strength to contain so much inside of him. Forget and smile? No. He would learn to remember and be happy, and he would help Billy do so too, that he silently promised. 

Billy was waiting for him inside and Jason wordlessly handed the letter page over; his expression must have spoken volumes. Billy looked at him with an understanding expression. "I know, Jase. And the others would have wanted that, too. Sometimes, when you move on you don't have to leave everything behind.You get to choose what you want to take along." 

"I understand." Jason nodded. "And in time I think the others will, too, round about the time they realise we actually won this war." 

Billy nearly laughed. "We won? What an amazing thing!" he said, appreciating the reminder. 

Jason nodded. "Yes we did, all of us. It's taken me a little time to realise it myself, but we _did _win. We made it through the darkness and the night, and I am going to make sure _everyone _remembers the sacrifices made … and takes the opportunities this new start brings." 

He sounded so serious, as if he truly could make this happen; Billy gave another slight half-smile. Had not this whole conflict been a measure of the fact that an individual could change everything? >From start to finish, if one of them had faltered then all of them would have been lost. It was not that anyone had been significantly more important than the other, because levels of Power were nothing if you never reached the point to use them. 

Right from the start they had fought to preserve those who were needed to act, even before they knew how important their contribution could be. If anyone had said that this could have happened, he would have thought them mad, and yet somehow he had ended up with everything resting on _his _words and _his_ choices. A frightening thought, and yet as he followed Jason inside, Billy realised there was nothing right now that he could actually have done any differently – even with the benefit of hindsight. That was something at least to be grateful for, even if the winning had involved sacrifice. 

He looked down at the letter one more time before carefully folding it and tucking the precious words away. 

They had indeed made it through the sunset and the nearly endless night; and now, who knew what the new day would bring?   
  
  
  
  
  
  


**The End**

  
  
  
  
  
  


**_Author's note:-_ **Well, it's finally over – I would appreciate feedback, though I started this for my own pleasure and it has ended that way, too! My thanks to Daggy for beta-ing for me, and to both her and Mele for plot discussions and random threats to get it done! It's been an interesting way of charting how my writing has developed, and at least part of the reason why it took so long is that I wanted to do the ending justice. I have certainly tried to do so, and thank you for bearing with me to the very end.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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